The Provincial Court of Badajoz has clarified that David Sánchez, brother of the Prime Minister, will not be able to hold any public office during the nine years of disqualification once the sentence is final. The court issued a ruling made public this Wednesday, after it handed down the sentence last July condemning him for a crime of administrative prevarication for alleged irregularities in his hiring, in 2017, at the Diputación de Badajoz.
The judges recall that, although the law does not allow them to “vary the rulings they pronounce after they are final,” it does grant them the possibility to “clarify some concept.” In this case, several officials of the Diputación de Badajoz who were convicted asked the court to specify certain passages of the sentence; in particular, they requested that the jobs or positions to which the special disqualification penalties apply be specified.
Over 14 pages, the Provincial Court reviews several cases, including that of David Sánchez, “even though [he] has not requested it.” The court specifies that his disqualification “will imply the loss of the position (even if he has voluntarily left it).” It will also include the “inability to obtain the same or another elective and/or discretionary position in any public administration during the time of the sentence,” that is, for nine years.
The judges rule “in the same terms” regarding the deputy delegate of the culture area at the time of the events, Francisco Martos; and the then directors of the culture area, Emilia Parejo and Manuel Candalija. In the case of Luis Carrero, friend of the Prime Minister’s brother who was appointed on December 26, 2023, as head of the Coordination Section of Centers and Cross-Border Activities Programs of the Diputación de Badajoz, the court warns that he will retain his status as a public employee assigned to the official language schools.
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Similarly, the Provincial Court addresses the situation of the former president of the Diputación de Badajoz and former leader of the Extremadura PSOE, Miguel Ángel Gallardo ―the only one sentenced to 18 years of disqualification for being attributed two crimes of prevarication―; and two of the deputies of the culture area at the time of the events, Cristina Núñez Fernández and Ricardo Cabezas Martín. “They will be deprived (even if they have also ceased) of the respective conditions” of their functions and of “the associated honors,” the judges point out. They specify that they will also not be able to obtain “other discretionary and/or elective positions in any public administration during the time of the sentences.” The same applies to two former officials of the Human Resources department, Juana Calderón and Félix González. However, the court warns that “the deprivation of employment or public office will not imply the loss of the status of civil servants or public employees” previously held by the convicted.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the defenses had requested the acquittal of Sánchez, Gallardo, and the rest of the defendants. Some accusations, including those exercised by PP and Vox, had raised their penalty requests to six years in prison at the end of the trial. The Badajoz Court opted for a guilty verdict considering that the accused participated, as material authors or as necessary cooperators, in the maneuvers that led to three acts considered criminal: the appointment of David Sánchez as coordinator of activities of the conservatories of the Diputación de Badajoz; the subsequent change of nomenclature of this position; and the hiring in 2023 by the same public body of his friend Luis Carrero.
The court based much of its argument on reports from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, in which thousands of intercepted emails during the investigation were analyzed. This meant that the weight of the testimonies of more than thirty witnesses who testified at the trial that there was no irregularity in the awarding of the positions and that David Sánchez and Carrero fulfilled the assigned tasks was reduced. The defense of the Prime Minister’s brother and the popular accusation exercised by Vox have appealed the sentence, which is not yet final.