Cristiana Álvarez, advisor to the wife of the President of the Government, has requested her acquittal before the upcoming trial with a jury in the 'Begoña Gómez case', claiming that she had no involvement in the registration, hiring, transfer, or use of the 'software' from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM).
This is stated in her defense document, which Europa Press has accessed, where she emphasizes that "attending an informational meeting and receiving also informational emails does not constitute cooperation in the execution of the registration of the 'software'."
The investigating magistrate, Juan Carlos Peinado, decided to send both Álvarez and Gómez to trial for, among other things, the alleged misappropriation of the 'software' linked to the chair that the President's wife co-directed at the Complutense University.
However, the Provincial Court of Madrid partially corrected that decision and, of the four crimes initially attributed to Álvarez, only supported that she be tried for a possible crime of embezzlement related to the alleged diversion of the 'software' from the chair, archiving the other three charges.
In her defense, Álvarez claims that the registration of the web domain was carried out by Blanca de Juan, former coordinator of the chair directed by Gómez, without her "intervention or help," and that subsequently that domain was transferred to Sánchez's wife.
Consequently, she argues that the facts "are absolutely atypical regarding the crime of embezzlement" and emphasizes that it was De Juan who materially carried out both the registration and the subsequent transfer of the domain, and "who, significantly, is not accused."
Moreover, she insists that "in everything related to the 'software' and the domain," she acted "always following instructions" from Gómez and "with the conviction of not doing anything illegal or prohibited."
At the same time, she emphasizes that this "is not the only case in which the domain of a chair or a master's program at the Complutense University is registered in the name of its director and not of the University."
"POLITICAL RETURN OF A MEDIA TRIAL"
Therefore, she reiterates that the facts "are absolutely atypical regarding the crime of embezzlement" and again stresses that it was De Juan who materially executed the registration and transfer of the domain, emphasizing that it is she "who, significantly, is not accused."
The defense of Álvarez, for whom the popular accusation led by Hazte Oír demands six years in prison, argues that he is charged with facts that "even if they were true, could never constitute a crime," labeling the accusation as "nonsense."
"The only intention of the political organizations that make up the popular accusation is to obtain a political gain from a media trial, regardless of whether the trial concerns atypical facts," asserts in the document.
In his opinion, his indictment is "only explainable by the exclusively political and media intention that drives the popular accusation," led by Hazte Oír, which "in the present case lacks the objectivity that the Supreme Court requires of those who exercise it."
Furthermore, Gómez's advisor considers the "disproportionate number of witnesses (120) that are proposed" to be excessive and attributes that figure to the will of the accusations to "prolong the trial for as long as necessary to coincide with an electoral process."
He also defends that the majority of the people called to testify have no direct relation to the facts, which, in his view, will force "the eleven citizens who have the misfortune of being designated as jurors" to endure a trial that could last "several months, with abandonment of their family and professional obligations."