The Government defends Begoña Gómez's request to Judge Peinado to travel abroad as "justified": Sánchez's wife goes to court as a precautionary measure

The wife of the President of the Government, Begoña Gómez, must appear this Wednesday for the first time to sign at the court in compliance with the precautionary measure imposed by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, which requires periodic appearance within the judicial procedure in which she is being investigated.

This obligation is part of a procedural scenario in which Gómez remains awaiting the magistrate's resolution on her request to travel outside Spain, specifically to the NATO summit and her daughter's graduation in London, after her passport was withdrawn as part of the precautionary measures adopted.

In this context, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, has defended the request presented by the wife of the President of the Government, assuring that it is a usual procedure in this type of judicial situation.

Bolaños has indicated that the request is “perfectly justified” and has stressed that it is an authorization “that is usually granted” when there are active precautionary measures that limit the mobility of an investigated person.

During a press conference, the minister explained that this type of request to travel abroad is frequent in judicial procedures with restrictions, and that in many cases they are authorized by the courts after assessing the justification provided. “What Mrs. Gómez has done is make a request, which is absolutely normal in this type of procedure when precautionary measures have been adopted, which is to request specific authorization for specific trips that have been perfectly justified,” Bolaños stated.

The minister also insisted that these authorizations are habitually granted in judicial practice, and questioned the nature of the precautionary measures adopted in this case, which he described as “disproportionate for being absurd and unnecessary.”“This type of specific authorization for travel is very common to be requested and absolutely common to be granted,” he added, stressing that the Government will be “awaiting the decision that is adopted in the coming days.”

Gómez asks for permission to travel

The wife of the Prime Minister, Begoña Gómez, has submitted a written request to Judge Juan Carlos Peinado to ask for authorization to travel both to the NATO summit and to her daughter's graduation in London, after he imposed precautionary measures on her such as the withdrawal of her passport.

The wife of the Prime Minister, Begoña Gómez, was summoned last Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to the court of magistrate Juan Carlos Peinado, within the framework of the precautionary measures agreed upon after the opening of oral proceedings against her. The appearance took place on the same day that Pedro Sánchez faced one of his most delicate interventions of the legislature in the Congress of Deputies, marked by references to the various judicial cases affecting his political circle.

In this context, it was the fifth time that Begoña Gómez went to the Plaza de Castilla courts. The judicial decision came after Judge Peinado had days earlier ordered the opening of oral proceedings with a popular jury against Gómez, her advisor Cristina Álvarez and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, within the investigation for alleged crimes of influence peddling, private corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds.

Gómez's defense appealed the three precautionary measures imposed before the Provincial Court of Madrid, considering them disproportionate and that there was no risk of flight.