Yahoo – AFP,
22 Dec 2014
Madrid (AFP) - Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain's King Felipe VI, will be the first member of the royal family ever to appear in the dock after a judge Monday ordered her to be tried for tax fraud.
 |
Spain's
princess Cristina (L), seen here arriving at the Palma de Mallorca
courthouse
on February 8, 2014, denies wrongdoing as she faces two counts
of being an
accessory to tax fraud (AFP Photo/Jaime Reina)
|
Madrid (AFP) - Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain's King Felipe VI, will be the first member of the royal family ever to appear in the dock after a judge Monday ordered her to be tried for tax fraud.
The
historic decision comes after four years of investigations that plunged the
royal family into crisis and contributed to the abdication of King Juan Carlos
in June.
A court on
the island of Majorca ordered Cristina, 49, to stand trial on two counts of
being an accessory to tax fraud in connection with her husband's business
affairs, in a written ruling seen by AFP.
 |
Spanish
Judge Jose Castro speaks to the
press after he ordered the sister of Spain's
King Felipe VI, Cristina, to stand trial for
alleged tax fraud in Palma de
Mallorca, on
December 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jaime
Reina) |
She is
accused of taking part in tax evasion by her husband, the former Olympic
handball player Inaki Urdangarin. He is accused of embezzling and laundering
millions of euros in public funds.
Cristina's
lawyers say she is innocent of any wrongdoing.
Asked to
comment on the ruling, a royal spokesman said it "has the utmost respect
for the independence of the judiciary".
The trial
is one of countless fraud and corruption scandals that have outraged Spaniards
over recent years, including several cases of alleged financial misdoings
involving the ruling conservative party.
Cristina
Federica of Bourbon and Greece is the youngest daughter of Juan Carlos and
sixth in line to the Spanish throne. She married Urdangarin in 1997 in a
glittering ceremony in Barcelona.
The case is
a big headache for Felipe who took the throne on June 19 promising an
"honest and transparent monarchy".
Public
prosecutors had called on the court to shelve the case, saying there was not
enough evidence against Cristina and hinting that investigators were out to get
the princess.
But
investigating magistrate Jose Castro at the court in Palma de Majorca upheld a
lawsuit brought by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a pressure group that has
brought numerous corruption cases against public figures.
"We
have made history," said the group's leader Miguel Bernad. "If it was
not for our suit, there would have been no charges. Everyone is equal before
the law."
Public
anger
As well as
Cristina and Urdangarin, the court on Monday ordered 15 other suspects to stand
trial.
The court
upheld a list of charges against Urdangarin including embezzlement and ordered
him to pay a bond of 15 million euros.
Urdangarin
is accused along with a former business partner of creaming off six million
euros ($8 million) in public funds from contracts awarded to Noos, a charitable
foundation.
Cristina sat
on the board of Noos and Urdangarin was its chairman.
Investigators
suspect that a separate company jointly owned by the couple, Aizoon, served as
a front for laundering embezzled money.
Questioned
in court by Castro in February, Cristina said she had simply trusted her
husband and had no knowledge of his business affairs.
Castro
grilled Cristina over accounts that indicated Aizoon money was used for
personal expenses, including work on the couple's Barcelona mansion, dance
lessons and Harry Potter books.
 |
Spain's
Princess Cristina is accused of
cooperating in tax evasion by her
husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, seen here in 2012
(AFP
Photo/Jaime Reina)
|
The
so-called Noos affair fanned public anger against the monarchy and the ruling
class during the recent years of economic hardship in Spain.
The scandal
soured the reign of Felipe's father Juan Carlos, who gave up the throne after
39 years so his son could freshen up the image of the monarchy.
Urdangarin
and Cristina have been excluded from royal activities since 2011 when he was
first named as a suspect.
Monday's
ruling cannot be appealed and the accused have three weeks to present written
court pleas in their defence, Castro ruled.
Cristina's
lawyer Miquel Roca told reporters afterwards the princess was "surprised
and upset" by the decision. Contrary to what the court ruled, he argued
that there could still be grounds for her to appeal against it.
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