The Court of Barcelona will judge Shakira, accused of defrauding 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014, as of November 20. The Colombian singer will face a trial that will last for 12 sessions and in which initially a list of about 200 witnesses is planned.
According to legal sources, the sixth section of the Court of Barcelona has issued a resolution in which it sets the days of November 20, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30 and November 4, 5, 11, 12, 13 and 14. December for the trial of the artist, dates that are subject to possible last-minute schedule changes.
On the other hand, the trial of the artist, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requests eight years and two months in prison for four crimes against the public Treasury, could be shortened if at the last minute an agreement is reached with the accusations – the Public Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office State – to accept a sentence reduction in exchange for acknowledging the fraud, according to EFE.
The reason why twelve sessions have been scheduled for the trial is the large number of witnesses proposed by the parties: a hundred from the State Attorney’s Office, some 30 from the Prosecutor’s Office and 60 from the Colombian artist’s legal team. A large number of witnesses for whom the president of the room, José Manuel del Amo, has already shown his concern, even asking the parties if it would be possible for them to reduce the number of witnesses in order to expedite the trial.
Del Amo has also proposed that Shakira, who has lived in Miami since the beginning of this month after parting ways with former FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué, attends her trial only at the session in which her statement is scheduled and on the last day of the oral hearing. , in which the defendant has the right to deliver a closing argument.
She wouldn’t be the first to have this kind of privilege. In fact, it is the same magistrate who last October allowed Neymar Jr. to be absent from the trial sessions for alleged irregularities in his transfer to Barça, with the exception of the day of his statement and the last session of the hearing, to that he could return to France, where he plays for Paris Saint Germain.
The Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office asks for eight years and two months in prison and a fine of 23.8 million for the singer, whom it accuses of six crimes against the Public Treasury for defrauding 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014. pretending that he did not reside in Spain. On the contrary, her defense alleges that she did not establish her residence in Spain until 2014 and emphasizes that, since 2011, the singer has paid more than 104 million euros in taxes worldwide.
The artist came to this judicial situation after rejecting last June an offer from the Prosecutor’s Office to reach an agreement that would reduce the sentences and avoid trial, which does not prevent her defense from continuing to negotiate a pact with the accusations in the coming months, an agreement that should be formalized in a brief trial before the Court of Barcelona.
