KING Felipe's youngest sister, the Infanta Elena's trial for alleged money-laundering and tax evasion will be under discussion this coming Friday in the court of Palma de Mallorca to decide how many hearings will take place, who will be called up as witnesses and to what extent the press will be allowed to be involved.
Given the magnitude of the trial – the first time in history that a member of the Spanish Royal family has appeared in the dock – an exhaustive amount of planning is needed before the case comes to court on January 11 next year.
Legal authorities will also decide whether or not to accept the defence lawyer's request to put back the trial by two weeks, given that he also has two other corruption cases to represent on that day.
It has taken over five years for judge José Castro to investigate the disappearance of around €6.2 million in public funds from the regional governments of Valencia, Madrid and the Balearic Islands.
Three magistrates – one man and two women – make up the panel of judges.
The accused parties, aside from the Infanta Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarín – who have had their titles of Duchess and Duke of Palma respectively withdrawn by Cristina's own brother, Felipe VI – are Urdangarín's ex-co director Diego Torres and his wife Ana María Tejeiro, the former accountant for the two men's company, the Nóos Institute, Marco Antonio Tejeiro, its ex-legal advisor Miguel Tejeiro, and the lawyer said to have helped them in their international tax evasion racket, Salvador Trinxet.
Former Balearic Island regional president Jaume Matas, his ex-director general for sports José Luis 'Pepote' Ballester, the ex-manager of the IlleSport Foundation Gonzalo Bernal, former legal advisor for the Balearic tourist board Miquel Àngel Bonet, and the ex-manager of the latter, Juan Carlos Alía.
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