Kuala Lampur, April 5 --  

MADRID, April 5 - A corruption trial of a former right hand man to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez begins on Tuesday, a politically explosive case that has threatened to topple the Socialist-led minority government.

Jose Luis Abalos is a disgraced ex-Socialist heavyweight, a former transport minister who helped propel Sanchez to power in 2018. The case is one of several corruption affairs rattling the fragile coalition.

Abalos and his former adviser Koldo Garcia are suspected of having pocketed kickbacks for handing out public contracts worth millions of euros for sanitary equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Supreme Court in Madrid will judge them for alleged bribery, embezzlement, inf...