Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma26/12/2015 00:00
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The courtroom for Princess Cristina and the others accused in the "caso Nóos" trial will have fifteen seats for journalists and a further 36 for members of the public. They will have to be seated by 8.30am before the judges and those involved in the trial enter the courtroom.

For the trial, which starts on 11 January at the room in the Balearic School of Public Administration in the Son Rossinyol industrial estate, it will not be possible to take in laptops, tablets, cameras, recording equipment or mobiles.

Eighty-four media organisations - national and international - have been accredited to cover the trial, and a total of 590 journalists, technical staff and others are anticipated. The journalists who are not in the courtroom will be able to cover it from a separate room with capacity for 120 people and several screens showing proceedings on a live feed.

During the first days, the Princess's defence will call for the so-called Botin doctrine to apply. This is one by which only the state can act as prosecutor, which in her case it is not, as the prosecution being brought against her is a private one by the "union" Manos Limpias. The king's sister will, therefore, be required to take her place in the dock for at least two days, awaiting the outcome of the petition by Manos Limpias for an eight-year sentence for her part in two tax offences. It believes that her role was essential in enabling her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, to defraud a total of 337,138 euros via a company, Aizoon, of which they were co-owners. This company, so it is alleged, was a front for the scheme hatched by Urdangarin and his former business partner, Diego Torres, to defraud a total of 6.2 million euros of public money.

The anti-corruption public prosecutor does not believe there was intent of wrongdoing, albeit there is an acceptance that the Princess would have benefited from funds allegedly defrauded by her husband. While the prosecutor considers that she does not have a case to answer, it is seeking a sentence total of more than one hundred years for the others accused, including nineteen and a half years for Urdangarin and sixteen and a half for Torres.

Though the trial starts on 11 January, the schedule is such that it will be a month before the first of the accused takes the stand. Among those listed for 9 February is the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas.