MADRID: The king of Spain’s son-in-law appeared in court on Saturday on charges of fraud and embezzlement in a case which threatens to tarnish a royal family credited with steering the country from dictatorship to democracy.
The court in Palma de Mallorca ordered Inaki Urdangarin to testify in an investigation into alleged misuse of millions of euros in public funds at the non-profit Noos Institute, which he ran from 2004 to 2006.
‘I appear on Saturday to demonstrate my innocence, my honour, my professional activity. For all these years I have discharged my duties and taken decisions properly and transparently,’ Urdangarin told reporters before entering the court.
Streets were cordoned off and security tightened to allow former handball player Urdangarin to enter the court in the Mediterranean holiday island’s capital.
Hundreds of noisy protesters gathered chanting slogans against the monarchy and waving flags used when Spain last had a republican government, from 1931-39.
Urdangarin moved with his wife and four children in 2009 to Washington, DC, where he represents Spanish telecoms group Telefonica. In an apparent reference to the case, the king said in his traditional Christmas speech that ‘all are equal before the law’.
‘When untoward conduct arises which is not in keeping with the law and ethics, society naturally reacts. Fortunately we live by the rule of law and any unworthy act must be judged and penalised,’ he said. Spain’s royals do not normally receive the same intense media interest as their British counterparts, but coverage has increased since Urdangarin was charged.The king was named successor by Francisco Franco, but shortly after the dictator’s death in 1975 he turned power over to Spain’s first freely elected parliament in decades. (UNI)
