Madrid, June 24 (EFE).- Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday expressed respect for the Supreme Court’s ruling against his former minister José Luis Ábalos, who was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for corruption this week, stressing that there can be no impunity for corrupt individuals, «whoever they may be.»
Sánchez was speaking on the sentence against the former transport minister, who also served as the former secretary general of the Socialist Party (PSOE), for the first time before a full Congress to explain his position on the various legal cases affecting his party and members of his family.
Ábalos’ conviction in a case involving kickbacks in public contracts for face masks approved during the Covid-19 pandemic, has once again stirred up Spain’s turbulent political landscape this week, with calls for elections and a purge within the PSOE.
In the same case, Ábalos’ former advisor Koldo García was sentenced to 19 years and eight months in prison, and commission agent Víctor de Aldama to four and a half years, although Aldama’s sentence was suspended due to him providing «truthful and relevant» information during the investigation.
During his appearance, Sánchez guaranteed that he has never known of and would not have tolerated any irregular conduct within the PSOE and emphasized that his party has not been financed irregularly.
