Judge Santiago Pedraz is investigating whether Spanish prosecutors offered assistance to former Socialist activist Leire Diez in an alleged plot targeting a magistrate in Badajoz.
The investigation forms part of a broader inquiry led by the magistrate into clandestine political operations linked to the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers Party, known as the PSOE.
Pedraz is attempting to clarify whether handwritten entries in notebooks belonging to Diez regarding her contacts with the State Attorney General Office had any connection to actions taken by public prosecutors in a case involving David Sanchez, the brother of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Allegations of prosecutorial backing
Magistrate Beatriz Biedma had presided over Investigating Court Number 3 of Badajoz, where she investigated David Sanchez over his employment appointment at the Provincial Council of Badajoz. David Sanchez was recently convicted of prevarication in connection with the position.
Court investigations led by Pedraz indicate that Diez, supported by senior party official Santos Cerdan and funded from PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street in Madrid, attempted to neutralize the judicial inquiry into David Sanchez.
The alleged scheme involved former judge Luis Jose Saenz de Tejada, whom operatives unsuccessfully tried to place as defense counsel for David Sanchez. Saenz de Tejada, who was previously removed from the judicial career following a conviction for gender violence, later attempted to join the proceedings as a popular prosecution.
When Biedma rejected Saenz de Tejada request to join the case, operatives attempted to recuse the magistrate on grounds of manifest enmity. The recusal effort sparked strong opposition among instruction judges across Badajoz.
Harassment campaign against the magistrate
Civil advocacy group Hazte Oir, which is joined as a popular prosecution in the case against David Sanchez, subsequently filed a criminal complaint against both Diez and Saenz de Tejada. The complaint alleged that Saenz de Tejada provided Diez with documentation designed to harm several members of the judiciary, including Biedma.
The harassment campaign against Biedma included monitoring her family environment, her professional background, the school attended by her daughters, and her local fitness center.
The prosecutor assigned to Investigating Court Number 2 of Badajoz advocated transferring the Hazte Oir complaint to Madrid judge Arturo Zamarriego, who was already investigating political sewer operations. However, the prosecutor simultaneously ruled out any criminal indications of secret revelation, procedural fraud, bribery, or trading in influence by Diez and Saenz de Tejada.
That decision caused widespread surprise among magistrates in Badajoz who were aware of the targeted actions against Biedma.
Prosecution reasoning and agenda records
Addressing the allegations of secrecy revelation, the prosecutor stated that efforts by Diez and Saenz de Tejada to collect material against judges were legally inconsequential because the complaint indicated they sought to acquire truthful information from various sources.
The prosecutor also concluded there was no evidence of procedural fraud because the gathered information was not shown to be false, and found no indication that payments or bribes were made to any prosecutor to secure favorable plea deals in exchange for material against the Civil Guard Central Operative Unit.
Pedraz has now summoned Badajoz Chief Prosecutor Jose Luis Alonso Tejuca to testify as a witness. The judge aims to determine whether Alonso Tejuca received direct instructions from the State Attorney General Office regarding the handling of the complaint.
Suspicious timing in handwritten notebooks belonging to Diez has intensified judicial scrutiny. Diez recorded a meeting with the State Attorney General Office on February 19, 2025, the exact day Saenz de Tejada first sought to join the proceedings against David Sanchez.
High level meetings at prosecutor headquarters
On March 6, 2025, one day after Biedma formally blocked Saenz de Tejada from joining the case, Diez and lawyer Jacobo Teijelo met in Madrid with Diego Villafane, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alvaro Garcia Ortiz, and prosecutor Beatriz Lopez Pesquera.
During witness testimony before Pedraz, both Villafane and Lopez Pesquera confirmed that the meeting took place at the State Attorney General Office headquarters, though neither official could explain who had organized the gathering.
Additional meetings occurred between late March and early April 2025 while Saenz de Tejada processed his recusal against Biedma and attempted to enter the case using his sister as a surrogate.
Diez explicit notes outlined a strategy to secure prosecutorial support, including instructions to coordinate with the prosecutor in Badajoz to assign a designated prosecutor to the case.
Further entries in the notebooks revealed an explicit objective to destroy the judicial proceeding and noted that the case had fallen to the magistrate in Court Number 3. The notes detailed plans for Saenz de Tejada to formalize legal petitions specifically to cause a paralysis in the investigation.
