The special court house which has been set up.

The special court house which has been set up.

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma05/01/2016 00:00
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The seating arrangements for those accused in the caso Nóos trial that will begin next Monday have been sorted out. Princess Cristina will be at the end of the last row next to the court area that has been assigned to the press. She will be next to tax advisor Salvador Trinxet on the third row of seats that together will accommodate the eighteen defendants and in the same row as her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, and his former business partner at the Instituto Nóos, Diego Torres.

On the second row will be, among others, Mercedes Coghen, who was the CEO of the Madrid 2016 Olympic Games bid, and Ana Maria Tejeiro, the wife of Diego Torres, who had responsibility for personnel at Nóos. She will be immediately in front of the princess. Her brother, Marco Antonio Tejeiro, who was the Nóos accountant, will be among those on the front row, of whom ex-Balearic president, Jaume Matas, will be another.

The prosecution is seeking sentences of between two and twenty-six years for the various accused. The princess, however, is not one of them, as the public prosecutor is not bringing a case against her. One of the first issues that needs to be resolved by the court is whether her defence plea for the Botin doctrine to apply is accepted. Under this, a private prosecution alone was not allowed to proceed in a case involving the late president of Santander Bank, Emilio Botin.

The court will be considering allegations of a plot to divert public funds through companies created by Urdangarin and Torres.
Specifically, these were 3.5 million euros from Valencian authorities, 2.5 million euros from the Balearic government and 114,000 euros from Madrid Town Hall. Charges being brought are those of embezzlement of public funds, breach of trust, fraud, the trafficking of influence, forgery, falsification of documents and money laundering.

Following the initial proceedings, including the decision regarding the application of the Botin doctrine, the first of the accused to take the stand will do so between 9 and 26 February, starting with the former director of sport in the Balearic government, José Luis Ballester.