Last Monday, the court case against Jaume Matas, former President of the Govern de les Illes Balears, began at the Tribunal Superior in Palma. Yesterday, proceedings went into their fifth day. Señor Matas stands accused of 26 separate charges of corruption and other misdemeanors. For reasons of diligence, the accusations were separated into five different court cases, the first one of which is the present one in which the former president stands accused of alleged corruption of public funds. The prosecution is requesting 8 years in prison for Don Matas for the charges heard this time.

Press photographers and radio and TV stations were on stand-by every day this week outside the court building in central Palma to report on the court proceedings. The current court session is expected to last for one month, which means three more weeks.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: January 13th, 2012. The time was 10:48:12. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of diariodemallorca.es and the photographer, B. Ramon.

Muchas gracias.