MADRID, June 5 (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday denied knowing about an alleged plot to derail investigations into corruption cases dogging his Socialist Party, saying he was disappointed and outraged by it.
Last week, a High Court judge ordered the surrender of various documents and electronic files from party headquarters in a probe centring on former Sanchez ally Santos Cerdan – the Socialists’ former organisation secretary – along with other party officials, lawyers, a businessman and a police officer.
They are suspected of attempting to influence administrative decisions and undermine any judicial proceedings or police actions affecting the interests of the Socialist Party or the government. Cerdan denies wrongdoing.
“I never endorsed it, nor did I ever have any information or knowledge of something I would never have tolerated,” Sanchez told reporters on arrival at a European Union summit in Montenegro.
He said his government was “clean” and the party’s legal team was analysing all court documents related to the case.
“My party has integrity and the corruption only involves a few people,” Sanchez said.
The premier, who came to power eight years ago by ousting a corruption-plagued centre-right government on the promise of cleaning up politics, is under fire even from allies for the slew of graft cases making their way through Spain’s courts.
Sanchez himself has not been named in any of the cases and has said they are a part of a campaign to oust him.
(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga, David Latona, Emma Pinedo and Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
