Judge holds off on charging the party

Judge Santiago Pedraz of Spain's Audiencia Nacional has rejected, for now, a request to treat the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) as an investigated legal person. The case examines an alleged organisation set up to disrupt court cases affecting the PSOE and the government. In his ruling, issued on Friday, the judge relied on Supreme Court doctrine on the criminal liability of legal persons. He found that the material gathered so far does not provide the 'principio de prueba' needed to attribute that status to the party.

“Even if the facts could in the abstract show a criminal appearance on the part of the PSOE, an element or principle of proof that reasonably supports their reality has not yet been incorporated.”

Steps still pending

Pedraz said several steps must be completed before any decision on the party. Some have already been ordered, including analysis of documents seized at the PSOE headquarters and at the home of former organisation secretary Santos Cerdán. Cerdán's own testimony as an investigated person will be scheduled later, once the agreed steps are finished. El Periódico reports that the judge also refers to a requirement sent to the PSOE on 6 October. El Confidencial reports that the party must hand over its last requested documentation this same week, and that Pedraz has demanded a complete list of lawyers, law firms and consultancies. The judge also wants to establish the payments made to Leire Díez and others, their purpose, and whether they were ordered and paid from party accounts by the organisation secretary.

The PP request and prosecutors' view

The Partido Popular (PP) asked the court earlier this week to cite the PSOE as a legal person under investigation. The request covered five offences: bribery (cohecho), influence peddling, money laundering, illegal financing and embezzlement. El País reports that the request came one day after Pedro Sánchez called national elections for 29-N. The PP pointed to statements already given in the investigation, including that of party manager Ana María Fuentes Pacheco, to argue that the spending used party money, premises and resources. On Thursday, the Anticorrupción prosecutors issued a report that saw indications of wrongdoing but judged imputation premature. According to elDiario.es, prosecutors Elisa Lamelas and Mar Scharfhausen argued that the pending steps must come first.

The alleged scheme

Investigators place Leire Díez, a former PSOE member, and Santos Cerdán, the party's former organisation secretary, at the centre of an alleged plan to obstruct investigations pursued in 2024 and 2025. Those inquiries targeted people linked to the PSOE, including former minister José Luis Ábalos and his ex-adviser Koldo García, as well as the circle of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, including his wife Begoña Gómez and his brother David Sánchez. According to the case file reported by El País, contacts between Díez and businessman Javier Pérez-Dolset sought compromising information on prosecutors, judges and Guardia Civil officers in order to 'erode' their credibility. The investigation is also examining whether leadership of the Guardia Civil sought to create an atmosphere of intimidation among officers of the UCO unit that handled many of these cases.

What happens next

The sequence of recent steps is shown below.

Pedraz said he will decide on the party once the pending steps are completed. Cerdán's testimony is one of the steps that remains to be scheduled, and the PSOE's documentation is due this week.