Julio Iglesias to file complaint against Yolanda Díaz at Supreme Court for libel and slander
The singer requested that Díaz retract her statement after she said that "sexual abuse was committed in his home and workers were in a state of slavery"
Julio Iglesias takes Yolanda Díaz to Supreme Court after she refuses to retract
Julio Iglesias will file a complaint for libel and slander against the second deputy prime minister and Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, at the Supreme Court, according to El Mundo. The move comes after Díaz refused to retract her statements regarding the criminal complaint filed against the singer for alleged sexual abuse.
The legal representatives of both parties appeared on Tuesday before a Madrid court in a mandatory conciliation hearing before filing the complaint. Díaz refused to acknowledge that her words had caused reputational damage or violated Iglesias's presumption of innocence, according to legal sources who spoke to EFE.
As no agreement was reached, the next procedural step is the complaint before the Supreme Court. Díaz has aforamiento, which requires any criminal case against her to be processed in that court.
The statements at the origin of the conflict
The singer's lawyer, José Antonio Choclán, indicated in his written submission that the origin of the future complaint are the statements Díaz made on 13 January on the social network Bluesky and the following day in an interview on the RTVE programme La Hora de la 1. In both cases, the lawyer argued, the minister "issued clear prejudgements of guilt to the public opinion against Mr. Iglesias, such as that sexual abuse was committed in his home, workers were in a state of slavery and the fundamental rights of the same were systematically violated".
On Bluesky, Díaz had written: "Chilling testimonies from Julio Iglesias's former employees. Sexual abuse and a situation of slavery with a power structure based on permanent aggression. Thanks to the brave women and the journalists from @eldiario.es for reporting it."
The original complaint and its filing
The complaint has its precedent in a complaint filed by two former employees of the singer for alleged crimes of human trafficking for forced labour and servitude, sexual assault, injury and a crime against workers' rights. The National Court Prosecution Service filed away that investigation in January, considering that the legal requirements for Spanish justice to be competent to investigate it did not exist.
The conciliation request in February
In February, Iglesias filed a conciliation request before a Madrid court of first instance in which he asked that Díaz acknowledge the damage caused, rectify her statements and compensate him with an amount to be determined "depending on the reach achieved". Choclán explained at that time that this conciliation procedure constituted a mandatory prior requirement before formulating a complaint for libel and slander.
After the failure of the hearing held on Tuesday, the filing of the complaint before the Supreme Court remains as the only available course of action for Iglesias.
Access to the filed complaint, in dispute
In parallel, the singer's lawyer had requested from the Prosecution Service the delivery of the already filed complaint in order to pursue legal action against the complainants. The Prosecution Service opposed that request. Iglesias's legal representative then appealed to an Administrative Litigation court to resolve that conflict over access to the documentation.
Source: El Mundo