...topple his minority coalition government.
A Spanish court has ordered the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Begoña Gómez, to stand trial by jury for corruption and banned her from leaving the country, according to a court order released Saturday.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered Gomez to hand in her passport and to appear before the court twice a month until a verdict is reached in the case, the ruling said.
Peinado in April formally charged Gomez with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds.
The court has imposed these precautionary measures on Gómez and on Cristina Álvarez, an adviser at the Moncloa Palace. It said "instructions shall be issued to all border posts and civilian and military airports" to ensure Gómez complies with the ban on leaving the country.
The third defendant in the case, businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, is not subject to these restrictions.
According to sources close to her, Begoña Gómez will appeal the precautionary measures. One of the measures she intends to challenge is the confiscation of her passport.
The ruling comes after a preliminary hearing held this week, at which the accusing parties requested that the defendants be tried by a jury and called for restrictions to prevent any potential flight risk.
