Former Spanish minister sent to trial over 'Operation Kitchen' PP cover-up case

Spain's National Court has sent the former Spanish interior minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, to trial over 'Operation Kitchen'.

'Operation Kitchen' refers to the police operation allegedly launched to retrieve corruption evidence from the former treasurer of the conservative People's Party, Luis Bárcenas, in relation to the 'Gürtel case', and to hide information from anti-corruption authorities. 

Luis Bárcenas and scheme ringleader, Francisco Correa, were convicted of corruption in 2018 along with the political force as part of the ‘Gürtel case’.  

The ‘Gürtel case’ revealed corruption and vast irregularities in the financing of the right-wing PP which ultimately led to the downfall of the former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy with a vote of no confidence in 2018. 

Jorge Fernández Díaz will now go to trial over charges of bribery, influence peddling, embezzlement, cover-up, against privacy, obstruction, and criminal organization.

In addition, the court has ordered a bail of €120,000 for Fernández Díaz, Francisco Martínez, who was secretary of state for security, and Eugenio Pino, who was the deputy director of operations. The judge imposed a bail of between €2,000 and €100,000 for others involved.

The magistrate's resolution includes all the crimes raised by the accusations, made by the prosecutor's office, the state attorney's office, the Socialists, Podemos, and the Bárcenas family.