Spanish politician aims to jail journalists who uncovered fraud scandal

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network
of editors, media executives and leading journalists
for media freedom, today condemned an attempt by a
leading Spanish politician to jail two journalists who
revealed her alleged involvement in a fraud scandal.
In documents filed this week in court, the politician,
Cristina Cifuentes, the former president of the
Community of Madrid, accused the two journalists,
eldiario.es Founder and Editor-in-Chief Ignacio
Escolar and investigative journalist Raquel Ejerique, of
aggravated disclosure of confidential information.
The criminal complaint seeks to jail Escolar and
Ejerique for up to five years. It accuses the pair of
having acted “blindly” in pursuit of a “valuable
exclusive”.
Eldiario.es launched a series of reports on March 21,
written by Ejerique, explaining how Cifuentes had
allegedly obtained her master’s degree from Rey Juan
Carlos University through fraud. The information
published by the news site generated great public
interest in Spain and put political pressure on
Cifuentes, who eventually stepped down several
weeks later following an unrelated shoplifting scandal.
The reports also prompted a criminal investigation
into Cifuentes for falsifying public documents and
bribery.
IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen called the charges
filed by Cifuentes a “blatant and clumsy attack on
media freedom in Spain”.
“Pursuing a story is not a crime”, he said. “Ignacio
Escolar and Raquel Ejerique are being targeted
because they did their job. The court should dismiss
this case quickly and with prejudice.”
The Madrid-based Platform in Defence of Free
Expression (PDLI), an IPI partner, also condemned
Cifuentes’s move. PDLI said it feared that the case
may be an effort to expose the journalists’ source,
“whose protection is one of the professional duties of
journalists. In that case, it would be a serious attack
on the constitutional right to inform and be informed
and an unacceptable threat against investigative
journalism.”
Earlier this year, an IPI special feature described the
pattern by which Spanish politicians resort to
unfounded legal actions against investigative
journalists to stop their reporting.