Princess Cristina, the sister of King felipe vi of Spain, appeared in court on June 5438+0 1 on suspicion of tax evasion, becoming the first member of the royal family to be tried on criminal charges since Spain resumed its monarchy in June 5438+0975. Her husband Inasi Hourdain Garin faces more serious charges, including embezzlement, forgery and money laundering. If convicted, Christina can be sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment, and Hourdain Garin's imprisonment starts from 19.
The trial was held in a temporary court in Palma, the capital of Balearic Autonomous Region in Mallorca, Mediterranean. Due to the large number of defendants, defense lawyers and media reporters, the court had to decide to move the trial hall to a big house for training civil servants in the suburbs, not far from the Royal Summer Palace.
The trial is scheduled to start at 9 am local time 1 1 (Beijing time 16: 08+05). In addition to Christina and her husband, who was an army player for two Olympic handball seasons, there were 16 defendants.
Hundreds of media people from all over the world flocked to report the beginning of this special trial. Some demonstrators who oppose the monarchy and demand that Spain restore the * * * system are also expected to appear in the streets around the court.
A few days before the trial, Christina and his wife expected not to say anything, because the judge alone read out 89 crimes committed by the suspect, and the defense lawyer would also acquit the parties one by one.
Case playback
Ma Xu is suspected of misappropriating public funds. The princess said she didn't know.
This case was tried in Palma, because the headquarters of the Northern Foundation involved is here.
From 2004 to 2006, 47-year-old Hourdain Jialin was the director of this charity. He is suspected of using his "Ma Xu" status to win the right to host a number of "stage competitions and singing operas" activities with his business partner diego torres without bidding. Some of these activities are held at unusually high prices, while others are not held at all. The two men took the opportunity to misappropriate the "contract money" of 6.2 million euros (about 6.7 million US dollars) paid by the government of Balearic Autonomous Region and Valencia Province.
Hourdain Garin changed hands and injected some money into the account of Eisen, a real estate consulting company jointly run by him and Christina, to "reimburse" their luxurious life, including decorating a villa in Barcelona, traveling to Kruger National Park in South Africa, staying in high-end hotels, taking salsa dance classes and even buying a series of books about Harry Potter.
Christina, 50, said at the closed-door pretrial hearing in February 20 14 that she loved Hourdain Garin and trusted her husband to manage his property. In the face of questions, she repeatedly answered "I don't know". However, Spanish media reported that as a member of the board of directors of the North Foundation, Christina knew about her husband's practice.
background
Civil society participates in anti-corruption litigation.
20 14, 12, that is, six months after felipe vi ascended the throne, a prosecutor suggested to the court that Christina could not be prosecuted by paying a fine of 580,000 euros (7 1. 1 10,000 dollars), which was equivalent to the benefits she might get from her husband's illegal transactions.
The judge didn't agree, because according to the court documents, many expenses of Yi Song Company were obviously for personal use, such as paying the servants in the villa where Christina and Hourdain Garin lived. At the same time, the judge ruled that Christina could be charged with tax fraud, because according to Spanish law, civil society can make accusations without a state prosecutor. The case was promoted by a non-governmental anti-corruption organization called "Clean Hands".
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)