Premier Spain to testify in corruption case

madrid - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has to appear as a witness in a corruption case against members of his conservative People's Party (PP). Although the prosecutor did not need to call on the Prime Minister, a majority of the judges decided according to the newspaper El Pais that he must still be heard.

One of the protagonists in the case is the former treasurer of the PP, Luis Bárcenas. He is suspected to have operated a secret fund that black money was funneled to politicians. That happened in the period when Rajoy was the general secretary of the party. Critics therefore the Prime Minister must have had knowledge of the illegal practices.

The illegal fund could be filled with money that came from the so-called Gürtel network, which was run by a corrupt businessman nicknamed 'Don Vito'. These Francisco Correa would have offered bribes in return for government contracts. The judge sentenced the man and two accomplices earlier this year to thirteen years in prison.