David Sanchez, brother of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, was sentenced to 9 years of ban from public office in the case where he was tried on charges of using his influence and committing administrative irregularities in his appointment as "conservatory activities coordinator" in the Badajoz Provincial Council.
The Badajoz Provincial Court imposed a 9-year ban on the Prime Minister's brother, David Sanchez, from public office on the grounds that he participated in the crime of administrative misconduct.
David Sanchez, who was acquitted of the 3-year prison sentence requested against him, has the right to appeal against his ban from public office.
The court also sentenced Miguel Angel Gallardo, the former leader of the Extremadura Autonomous Region of the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), who was tried in the same case and who was the general secretary of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to be banned from public office for 18 years.
In the case that came to the fore due to Prime Minister Sanchez, David Sanchez, a musician, was accused of administrative irregularity and using his influence to appoint himself to the "conservatory activities coordinator", which was created by the Badajoz Provincial Council while he was unemployed in 2017, and which was stated to be a senior management position, for which 10 applications were rejected.
Meanwhile, the investigation against Prime Minister Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez, accusing her of "using her influence, corruption in the business world, embezzlement and abuse of office", continues.
Spanish judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who oversaw the investigation and decided to file a lawsuit, decided to temporarily confiscate Begona Gomez's passport on the grounds of "suspicion of escape".
Another trial process against those around Sanchez is being carried out against former prime minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Zapatero is accused of forming a criminal organization, document forgery, money laundering and influence peddling within the scope of the investigation opened against him.
Sanchez claims that all the prosecution processes carried out against his close circle, with allegations made by far-right groups and political parties, are a "smear campaign" by opposition parties against him and his party.