Spain's PM to testify as witness in wife's alleged corruption case

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Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begona Gomez, pictured in June. /Juan Medina/Reuters

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was summoned to testify as a witness in an investigation about alleged corruption and influence peddling accusations against his wife that led him to consider resigning in April, the court said on Monday.

Sanchez will be interviewed by investigating judge Juan Carlos Peinado at his official residence, the Moncloa palace, on July 30, the court said.

The proceedings are part of a preliminary investigation into whether Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez used her position as the premier's wife to secure sponsors for a university master's degree course that she ran.

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Peinado said Sanchez's testimony would be "convenient, useful and relevant" for the investigation to establish whether there was influence peddling.

Gomez appeared before the judge on Friday but declined to answer questions. She has not commented publicly on the case, but Sanchez has vehemently denied the accusations against her, saying they were baseless and orchestrated by right-wing political foes.

In April, the Socialist leader took a five-day break from his duties to weigh whether to resign after the court opened the investigation, but ultimately he decided to stay on.

It is the first time a sitting Spanish prime minister has been called to testify in a judicial case since Mariano Rajoy was summoned as a witness in 2017 in a graft case that led to the conviction of several members of his conservative People's Party.