The Provincial Court of Badajoz will hold this Thursday the start of the trial against David Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, brother of the President of the Government, and Miguel Ángel Gallardo, former president of the Badajoz Provincial Council and former general secretary of the PSOE of Extremadura, within a case that also affects nine other defendants linked to the provincial institution.
The procedure revolves around the creation and awarding of a position in the Culture area of the Badajoz Provincial Council that David Sánchez ended up occupying. The investigation analyzes whether there were administrative irregularities and possible crimes of malfeasance and influence peddling during the process.
All defendants maintain their innocence and the defense teams have rejected the accusations made during the investigation. The Public Prosecutor's Office, moreover, requested the dismissal of the case in previous stages of the procedure.
David Sánchez and Miguel Ángel Gallardo, the main names in the trial
The main defendant is David Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, a musician and composer, also known as David Azagra in the artistic field. The case analyzes the circumstances surrounding the creation and subsequent awarding of the position of coordinator of conservatory activities of the Badajoz Provincial Council, a post he ended up occupying.
The judicial investigation maintains that the position may have been designed specifically for him, a thesis that his defense rejects.
Alongside him will sit Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who presided over the Badajoz Provincial Council when the investigated events took place and who for years was one of the main figures of the PSOE of Extremadura.
Gallardo has publicly defended the legality of the entire administrative procedure and has denied any preferential treatment. Another prominent name is Luis Carrero, a close collaborator of David Sánchez in the cultural area of the Provincial Council and also investigated within the procedure.
The other nine defendants
The remaining defendants are former officials and workers linked to different areas of the Badajoz Provincial Council, especially departments related to Culture, Human Resources, and administrative management.
Among them are managers who participated in the elaboration of the bases, personnel selection, administrative processing, and supervision of the procedures related to the investigated position.
The prosecution maintains that some of the administrative decisions could have been aimed at facilitating the incorporation of David Sánchez into the provincial institution.
The defenses reject this interpretation and maintain that all procedures were in accordance with the law.
The trial comes after months of strong political and judicial confrontation surrounding one of the investigations with the greatest impact on the environment of the President of the Government. During the investigation, the case generated cross-appeals between the prosecutions and defenses, as well as an intense political debate about the real scope of the irregularities investigated.
Now it will be the Provincial Court of Badajoz that determines whether or not there were criminal responsibilities in the creation and awarding of the position that is at the center of the proceedings.