MADRID: All eyes in Spain will be on the Bárcenas case in which he and several others are on trial for their role in a major corruption scandal by the Partido Popular. Lawyer Galan would like former Prime Minister Rajoy to face Bárcenas in court.
On Monday, the lawsuit over ‘caja B’, the shadow accounting within the PP, started. The trial also looks into illegal financing of the party between 1982 and 2009. Days before the trial, Luis Bárcenas, the party’s former treasurer, opened up on the latest corruption scandal, blaming Mariano Rajoy.
Bárcenas and Rajoy to face each other in lawsuit?
On Monday, Spanish news site Niusdiario.es wrote that Luis Bárcenas’s lawyer proposes a confrontation between his client and former Prime Minister Rajoy. Lawyer Gustavo Galan does not want to turn the court into a circus, but believes it makes sense for Rajoy to testify as there are several contradictions.
Rajoy previously testified in the Gürtel case. This and other recent statements by the former prime minister are inconsistent with those of Bárcenas. Galan therefore wants them both in court. According to Spanish newspaper El País, the OM has indicated a confrontation between Rajoy and Bárcenas is rather premature.
Rajoy – an important role in Partido Popular ‘caja B’
According to Bárcenas, Rajoy was not only aware of the shadow financing caja B, the former prime minister even destroyed evidence. Rajoy is not the only one to be questioned as a witness. Other names within the former Partido Popluar party will probably also be in court – José María Aznar, María Dolores de Cospedal, Francisco Álvarez Cascos, Ángel Acebes and Javier Arenas.
Who is Luis Bárcenas?
Bárcenas was treasurer of the PP until 2009. That year, he was linked to the Gürtel LINK case, a corruption scandal within the party. Since then, Bárcenas has been involved in the misappropriation of money several times. Bárcenas has been in prison for quite some time for other crimes. Now his wife is also in prison, he opened up last week about the malpractices within the PP. His actions may be with the hope of a reduced sentence for his wife.
Lawsuit suspended for Covid-19?
The trial on caja B will continue on Tuesday. The hearing began with a postponement request as one of the accused, Cristóbal Páez, has tested positive for Covid-19, El País reported. The court will eventually rule on the shadow financing Partido Popular has been able to hide for almost twenty years.
