Spanish PM Rajoy to testify in July on corruption scandal

Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-30 21:31:00|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao
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MADRID, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will have to testify on July 26 as a witness on the Gurtel corruption case, according to a court document on Tuesday.

Rajoy will appear in court, considering him a citizen and a witness of the corruption scandal affecting the ruling People's Party (PP). According to the Spanish law, the prime minister is obliged to give a witness statement when called by the judges.

The Spanish High Court has rejected the party's and Rajoy's petition of testifying through video conference due to security issues, but accepted the dates they had proposed to testify.

The court said they would adopt measures to preserve his institutional image and stated that the court had greater security measures than other venues where Rajoy might have attended.

The Gurtel case consists on an investigation on a slush fund within the PP created thanks to kickbacks from the so-called Gurtel network of businesses that operated across six Spanish regions between 1999 and 2005.

Rajoy was the secretary general of the party while Luis Barcenas was the treasurer, who is accused of having overseen the slush fund. The prosecution says that Rajoy should have been aware of the activities due to his position at that time in the party.

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