MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2020) Catalan authorities will consider filing a lawsuit against former Spanish King Juan Carlos I amid the corruption probe into his involvement in a Saudi rail project, the region's government said on Sunday.
"In connection with the news about the former king that has appeared in recent weeks, the president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, has ordered considering a possibility of filing a lawsuit against Juan Carlos de Bourbon, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, and all those who in one or another way participated, helped or facilitated corrupt activities or covered up these activities, in which the former head of the Spanish state and his entourage were supposedly involved," the government said.
Torra argued that everyone is equal before the law and that "corruption should be prosecuted regardless of who is involved in it."
The Catalan leader ordered finding out whether the alleged corruption had taken place and identifying the perpetrators, who should be held criminally and administratively liable.
Earlier, Torra criticized the planned trip of the incumbent king of Spain, Felipe VI, to Catalonia. The regional leader is dissatisfied that the announcement of the trip did not indicate which areas the monarch intends to visit. The Catalan president also recalled that many municipalities have movement restrictions in place in connection with COVID-19.
In June, prosecutors of Spain's Supreme Court announced the launch of a probe into the ex-king's involvement with the 2011 construction contract for a high-speed railway from Saudi Arabia's Mecca to Medina. It came amid revelations that Juan Carlos, who personally lobbied the project, reportedly received millions of Dollars from the late Saudi king "as a gift." The probe looks into the possible violations of law committed after Juan Carlos abdicated in June 2014 and thus lost his immunity from prosecution.
A part of the Saudi money is believed to have been transferred to Swiss accounts of Juan Carlos' former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Geneva's prosecutors announced a probe into it� in March.
On the heels of the March scandal, Felipe VI renounced his inheritance from his father and stripped the latter of funds from the budget of the royal house.
