Spanish PM prepares for historic court appearance
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E-mail Xinhua, July 25, 2017
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will make history on Wednesday when he becomes the first Spanish leader sitting in office to give evidence in a court case.
Rajoy will appear as a witness in the ongoing trial over the Gurtel cash for favors scandal in which his right wing People's Party (PP) is implicated.
The Gurtel trial covers the period 1999-2005 and is investigating the relationship among a series of companies organized by Francisco Correa and whether they received public contracts in return for making illegal payments to Rajoy's People's Party.
Former PP Treasurer Luis Barcenas kept a set of accounts "parallel" to the official party paperwork which detail these payments, as well as money given to high-ranking PP officials including Rajoy. It is also thought that Rajoy's party used the money to illegally finance a series of local and regional election campaigns.
PP spokesman Fernandez Martinez-Mallo said on Monday that Rajoy would answer all of the questions which were asked to him in the courtroom in the town of San Fernando de Henares, around 30 km outside of the Spanish capital of Madrid.
However, Martinez-Mallo insisted that Rajoy who, during the 1999-2005 period, held the posts of education minister, deputy prime minister, interior minister and government spokesman, as well as being the PP candidate in the 2004 general election, knew nothing about the party's financial dealings.
Rajoy had originally asked to be allowed to give his evidence by video from his official residence in the Palacio de la Moncloa as having to attend court in person would entail extra-expenditure on security measures and place a strain on police resources. However, that request was rejected by the court.
The prime minister might face a hostile reception when he arrives at the court building on Wednesday with a demonstration called against him by several organizations linked to the September 25th Movement.
The demonstration will go under the banner "Make the People's Party illegal." The Party of the Mafia' and those attending have been asked to attend with umbrellas, "whistles, horns and drum," to "make some noise."
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