A ruling is expected on Friday in an embezzlement trial involving Spain’s Princess Cristina, due to the defence lawyers and the public prosecutor’s call for her acquittal, local media reported.
The 51-year-old sister of King Felipe VI had been charged with embezzlement as an accessory to her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, in the first corruption case to directly involve Spain’s royal family.
Urdangarin, a former handball player, is accused of embezzling about 6.4 million dollars in public funds through a charity, the Noos Institute, which he ran from 2004 to 2006.
Urdangarin, who also faces charges of fraud, money laundering and falsifying documents, could be sent to jail for up to 19 years and six months.
The case involved 17 defendants, including Urdangarin’s former business partner, Diego Torres, who faces up to 16 years and six months’ imprisonment.
The princess has consistently denied any involvement in her husband’s business.
While the public prosecutor has called for her acquittal, the Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) trade union, which appeared as a plaintiff in the case, has asked for an eight-year prison sentence for Cristina.
The defendants need not appear in the Mallorca court on Friday, the El Pais newspaper reported, adding that their lawyers will be present in order to receive the 1,000-page court ruling. (dpa/NAN)
AIJ/MST