Why is Spain's Princess Cristina on trial?
The sister of Spain's King聽Felipe VI,聽Princess Cristina, appeared in court Monday as the first member of the Spanish royal family to stand trial since the nation鈥檚 monarchy was reestablished in 1978.
Princess Cristina, along with her husband I帽aki Urdangarin and 16 others, face trial after a years-long investigation into fraud surrounding Mr. Urdangarin鈥檚 nonprofit consultancy, N贸os, managed by Urdangarin and his business partner Diego Torres. Prosecutors say the foundation embezzled 鈧�6.2 million of public funds, mostly by securing work for the foundation through the provincial governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands. N贸os was contracted to hold several sporting events there, but is accused of drastically overvaluing or never performing the services agreed upon and moving the money gained abroad or into front companies.
Cristina is charged with ,聽and Urdangarin faces charges for nine crimes including fraud, falsification, and embezzlement. Cristina faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted; Urdangarin more than 19. Both deny any wrongdoing.
Cristina was a member of the board of the N贸os Institute and co-owned the consulting firm Aizoon, , with Urdangarin. Prosecutors say Aizoon received money from N贸os, some of which was used by Cristina and her husband for vacations, parties, and more. Prosecutors say Cristina then failed to report tax on those expenses.
The accusations against the princess were brought by anticorruption group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands).
Cristina and Urdangarin鈥檚 lawyers, along with those for the other 16 defendants, maintained all parties鈥� innocence and asked that all charges be dropped, claiming Cristina committed no crime and should simply face a fine for tax evasion.
The trial began after years of investigation into N贸os and the activities of Cristina and Urdangarin sustained controversy for Spain鈥檚 monarchy. In 2011, Cristina and her husband were barred from all Spanish crown events and excused from their royal duties. The couple and their children moved to Geneva in 2013, but incurred the use of Spanish tax money for their security detail. And Cristina鈥檚 brother, King Felipe VI, stripped his sister and Urdangarin of their titles of Duchess and Duke of Palma de Mallorca last year.
The investigation, along with persistent economic problems and the abdication of the Spanish throne by long-reigning Juan Carlos I in 2014, have caused support for the nation鈥檚 monarchy to fall; the royal family鈥檚 confidence rating fell to only after annually scoring above 5 from 1994 through 2010. Since Felipe鈥檚 ascension, though, the new king has topped public-opinion polls amid his retooling of the crown, though growing sentiment for Catalonian secession could again hurt the monarchy鈥檚 image.
The trial will adjourn until February when testimony is set begin, and is expected to run through June with possible sentences to be handed down later this year.
