By Sam Tobin

LONDON, November 8 (Reuters) – Spain’s King Emeritus Juan Carlos asked a London court on Tuesday to block part of the abuse case brought against him by his former lover, arguing that the allegations made by him against him and Spanish intelligence were covered up by the state. immunity.

The 84-year-old monarch is facing a lawsuit from Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who says Juan Carlos has led a campaign of abuse against him since 2012 that is still ongoing.

A lower court rejected Juan Carlos’ request for immunity in March, but he was given the green light to challenge part of that decision in July.

Lawyer Juan Carlos told the London Court of Appeals on Tuesday that he strongly denies Sayn-Wittgenstein’s claims. He argued that any allegations of abuse prior to his abdication in 2014 were protected by immunity.

But lawyer Sayn-Wittgenstein said the act of abuse was a personal act undertaken to serve the king emeritus’s “hidden agenda”.

“Immunity says nothing about the legality or morality of the alleged behavior,” Timothy Otty, who represents Juan Carlos, told the court.

He said Sayn-Wittgenstein’s allegations that the then head of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), General Sanz Roldán, coordinated a covert operation to search his Monaco apartment in 2012 were covered by state immunity.

Otty argues that his client’s “alleged personal motives” cannot be separated from “public office which grants the accused status and ability to influence public officials.”

James Lewis, who represents Sayn-Wittgenstein, said in his written application that Sayn-Wittgenstein wanted to rely on new information, including the “close relationship” between Juan Carlos and Roldán, who is said to have frequented the king emeritus in exile. in the United Arab Emirates.

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Sayn-Wittgenstein also argues that the abuse took place after Juan Carlos used it to hide “large amounts of money” from Spanish authorities and that the abuse was aimed at controlling him so he could access it.

Once revered for his role in Spain’s transition to democracy, Juan Carlos was forced to abdicate in 2014 after a series of scandals including his affair with Sayn-Wittgenstein and is now seen as a burden to his son, King Philip SAW.

The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office in March abandoned two investigations into alleged fraud in the king emeritus’ business after finding insufficient evidence of criminal activity, following a similar action by Swiss prosecutors last December.

(Report by Sam Tobin; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)