The former socialist militant Leire Díez has asked the National Court judge Santiago Pedraz to annul the appearance as an injured party of Beatriz Biedma, the magistrate who investigated David Sánchez, brother of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. Her defense denies having slandered her and questions the evidence with which the instructor, supported by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, allowed her to exercise the private prosecution.
The appeal challenges the decision adopted last Monday and maintains that "there is not the slightest indication" of a slander attributable to Díez. The request comes after Biedma provided more than 90 videos on Wednesday with which she intends to prove a campaign against her and expand the actions that Pedraz initially agreed to investigate.
The discussion takes place within the case concerning an alleged plot to obstruct judicial proceedings affecting the PSOE and the government's inner circle, in which the actions of Díez and the former socialist Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán, among others, are being investigated. Biedma's incorporation allows for the examination of possible crimes committed against her during the instruction of David Sánchez's procedure; that admission is still pending what the investigation determines.
The defense questions whether the archived complaints prove slander
Díez's lawyer, Eva Bejarano, focuses her appeal on the complaints that former judge Luis José Sáenz de Tejada filed against Biedma. She maintains that their archiving does not in itself prove that the reported facts were false, nor that the person who went to the authorities knew they were. This is one of the arguments with which she combats the status of injured party recognized to the magistrate.
The Prosecutor's Office maintains that these complaints were filed following Díez's instructions. According to the account in the appeal, the first was outright archived and the second was also archived, after being sent to the Superior Prosecutor's Office of Extremadura. The defense disputes both the criminal interpretation of these facts and the role attributed to her client.
Bejarano emphasizes that the complaints were signed solely by Sáenz de Tejada and that Díez is attributed with having received them and having discussed their content with him. Even if she had encouraged their presentation, she argues, it would be necessary to prove the elements of the crime. The document insists that her client "has never imputed a criminal act to anyone".
Article 205 of the Penal Code defines slander as attributing a crime with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth. The controversy requires determining what was imputed to Biedma, with what knowledge it was done, and what intervention each investigated party had. The appeal argues that these requirements are not accredited with respect to Díez.
The defense also questions whether Biedma's claim should be processed within this procedure. It considers that it introduces a crime unrelated to the original object of the case and warns of the risk of turning it into a "prospective" investigation, open to seeking new responsibilities without sufficiently defined facts. If the magistrate understands her honor to be harmed, the lawyer argues, she should file an independent complaint.
The videos and suspicions that Pedraz left out
Biedma maintains that she was the target of maneuvers to discredit her and hinder her investigation into David Sánchez. The Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has analyzed conversations about actions directed against the magistrate, particularly those related to Sáenz de Tejada. Her case regarding the hiring of the president's brother in the Provincial Council of Badajoz ended in July with a conviction by the Provincial Court of nine years of disqualification for prevarication, subject to appeal.
On Wednesday, the judge presented material from the YouTube channel 'Magistrado Anticorrupción TV', managed by the former magistrate. According to her brief, the attacks intensified since August 2024, when the WhatsApp group 'Vacaciones y Viajes' was created, composed of Díez, Sáenz de Tejada, and businessmen Javier Pérez Dolset and Joaquín Parra. Biedma links this increase to the group's activity and demands that the content of the publications be examined.
Pedraz had initially refused to investigate these videos because no copies or documents were provided that would allow establishing their direct relationship with the case. Nor did he consider it accredited then that they had been prepared at Díez's indication. The new documentation aims to address these shortcomings and get the instructor to expand the examination of possible actions against Biedma.
The magistrate has also demanded an investigation into alleged contacts with people linked to drug trafficking to harass her. However, Pedraz left out that hypothesis due to lack of data supporting the interpretation of an entry in Díez's agenda. The resolution followed the criteria of the prosecutors, who refused to open a line of investigation for each note without other elements that would give it relevance.
Among the known actions is the UCO's interrogation of Cinthia Rocho, who stated on television that she had received a proposal to harass the judge and claimed that she rejected it. Biedma has also alluded to the murder of that woman's father, which occurred in December 2024, although her writing does not explain what connection the crime would have with the investigated maneuvers.
Pedraz has summoned Biedma to testify on October 8, recognizing her as an alleged victim "at least for the crime of slander, without prejudice to what results from the subsequent investigation."
