Fraud trial starts for Spain's Princess Cristina

Fraud trial starts for Spain's Princess Cristina 



PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain - A landmark fraud trial opened Monday for Spain's Princess Cristina, accused of helping 

bankroll a lavish lifestyle with funds her husband received from an alleged scheme to embezzle about 6 million euros 

(S6.5 million) in public contracts for conferences and sporting events. 

Cristina and her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, said nothing to dozens of reporters as they entered a makeshift courthouse 

amid tight police security aimed at keeping anti-monarchy protesters away from the scene. 

The two then sat si ently among a group of 16 other defendants as a judge read out the charges for the historic trial, 

which marks the first time that a member of Spain's royal family has faced criminal charges since the monarchy was 

restored in 1975. 

The 50-year-old Cristina faces two counts of tax fraud carrying a maximum prison sentence of eight years for a legedly 

failing to declare taxes on personal expenses paid by a real estate company she owned with Urdangarin, an Olympic 

handball medalist turned businessman. 

He faces more serious charges Of using his former Duke Of Palma title to embezzle about 6 million euros (S6.5 million) 

in public contracts through the nonprofit Noos Institute he ran with an associate. 

Security was tight around the building after thousands of anti-monarchy protesters in 2014 staged noisy 

demonstrations while Cristina answered questions about the case posed by an investigative judge. 

Authorities Monday morning detained one protester with an anti-monarchy flag a short time before Cristina showed up 

at the court inside a sedan with dark tinted windows. 

Cristina has a chance of avoiding the trial if the judges agree with arguments her awyers made in court Monday that a 

Spanish legal precedent should be applied to her case that allows tax fraud cases to be dropped When they are not 

initiated by prosecutors. 

But the same tactic can't be used by her husband, meaning it's all but inevitable that details come out during the 

proceedings about the coup e's everyday life behind the high walls of the mansion they were forced to sell during the 

investigation. 

There are so many defendants and lawyers plus reporters covering the case that judicial officials were forced to move 

the trial from a courthouse to a sprawling building complex on the outskirts of Palma de Mallorca normally used to hold 

mass training courses for public servants. 

The case is being heard in the regional capital of Spain's Balearic Islands because many of Crdangarin's business deals 

under investigation were for the islands. 

The princess and her husband are not expected to utter a word during the first few days of the trial. 

Cristina denied knowledge of her husband's activities during the 2014 closed door court appearance and a prosecutor 

recommended she should be fined. But a judge decided Cristina could be charged with tax fraud in 2007 and 2008 

because Spanish law a lows groups to fi e charges when state prosecutors don't. 

Her case was driven forward by the anti-corruption group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands). 

Details about the couple's lavish lifestyle emerged from the pre-trial investigation, outraging Spaniards as the country 

teetered on the edge of an economic crisis. The case added to the stream of bad headlines for Cristina's father, former 

King Juan Carlos — already smarting from a backlash after he broke his hip during a 2012 elephant hunting trip seen as 

an example of royal excess. 

luan Carlos abdicated in 2014, not mentioning the scandals affecting his reign but saying Spain needed fresh royal 

b ood. On taking the throne, King Felipe VI - Cristina's brother — pledged to restore public trust in Spain's monarchy. 

He later stripped Cristina and her Older sister princess Elena Of their roles as official members Of the royal family 

though they have not given up their slots of succession in line for the throne. 

The trial is expected to last six months. 

 

 Royalty should not be exempt. This article proves the absolute freedom monarchies have had over past years in distributing their resources exactly as they pleased. Thankfully in the twenty first century these authorial figures can now be put on trial as well. The author reflects the anger and impatience of the Spanish population with the monarchy. Reading the article it is in fact amazing that they’ve put up with such scandals for so long, especially considering the economic crisis. The author has an outside perspective but definitely points out and considers the side of the people over the side of the monarch. Considering the US is the publisher and he their reporter his bias towards a monarchy may be understandable because the US has never experienced one. Overall this shocking article is a reminder that all humans must be kept accountable, no matter who you are and that equality and justice in particularly these cases is extremely key.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/01/11/fraud-trial-princess-cristina/78618268/

Clendenning, Alan. "The Latest US and World News." USA Today. Gannett, 11 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.