The prosecutor’s office requested the termination of the corruption case against the wife of the Spanish prime minister

The public prosecutor’s office in Madrid has asked to drop the corruption case against the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezreports “Reuters”.

Public prosecution said it was appealing yesterday’s decision by a Madrid court to hear a private complaint filed by anti-corruption activists against Begonha Gomez for alleged influence peddling and corruption.

The Spanish anti-corruption group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands – n.d.) previously indicated that it based its claim on media reports and could not guarantee their credibility.

Its head, Miguel Bernad, specified that the group simply gathered and turned the information over to a “civil debt” judge and denied the action was politically motivated.

Sanchez, who last year secured another term for his Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) as leader of a minority coalition government, yesterday made a surprise announcement that he was stepping down from public duties in five days and will announce on April 29 whether he will resign.

He described the move as “unprecedented defamation and harassment from the right and far right”.

Sanchez has vehemently denied the allegations against his wife. Gomez herself has not made any public statements.

Bernad, who in the 1980s participated in two European elections as a candidate for the far-right National Front, today emphasized that the claim is not political, but “solely based on journalistic reports”.

Manos Limpias asked the court to open an investigation into Gómez’s business dealings after prosecutors failed to self-incriminate, and the investigator will decide whether the media reports are trueor not, he explained.

The judge handling the case, Juan Carlos Peinado, indicated yesterday that he would open a preliminary trial to investigate whether Gomez engaged in influence peddling and corruption in her personal business.

Senior officials of the Socialist Party described the political climate as “toxic” and the Manos Limpias complaint as bogus.

Sanchez’s options are to either stay in office or resign, leading to either a new candidate in the lower house or early elections in the summer. Sanchez may also face a confidence vote to cement his leadership.

Judge Peinado has called two online media editors to testify as witnesses in the investigation.