The Supreme Court of Spain has put an end to the high-profile defamation case against former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. The court ruled that Okdiario director Eduardo Inda and the publisher of the outlet violated the politician’s right to honor by spreading false information alleging he received large sums from the Venezuelan government. They have now been ordered to pay Iglesias €18,000 and publish a retraction outlining the main findings of the court’s decision.
The controversial publications first appeared in May 2016. Okdiario claimed that Iglesias received €272,325 through an offshore bank in the Grenadines, allegedly from Venezuelan authorities disguised as payment for consulting services. The reports included details that later turned out to have no real basis. The outlet cited certain documents and even published copies of them, but the authenticity of these papers was never confirmed.
Court proceedings
Pablo Iglesias took the case to court to defend his reputation. The initial courts — the court of first instance and the Madrid Provincial Court — did not support his claims. However, attorney Marta Flor Núñez filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, and that was where the case took a different turn. The judges examined the conflict between the right to honor and freedom of information, the latter being invoked by Inda and Okdiario.
The court’s decision notes that the publications dealt with a topic of public interest: possible transfers from a foreign state to the leader of a political party. However, according to the court, the journalists failed to exercise due diligence and did not verify the authenticity of the information. Moreover, the editor altered the journalist’s original text, removing language that indicated the information was speculative, turning the article into a statement of fact.
Inside the Publications
The court noted that initially, journalist Francisco Mercado prepared a piece about an investigation into possible transfers, not about the actual receipt of funds. The text used terms like “alleged” and “possible,” but under the direction of director Inda, the article was rewritten and the headline became a categorical claim about the transfer of funds. All cautious wording was removed, and the journalist was reprimanded for being overly restrained.
In subsequent publications, Okdiario claimed that Spanish authorities had allegedly confirmed the authenticity of the transfer documents. However, during the court proceedings, it turned out that this information was inaccurate. Former deputy police director Eugenio Pino, who testified as a witness, stated that the investigation was at a very early stage and the documents had not even been sent for examination, as they were merely ordinary photocopies.
The Role of Political Struggle
The story involving Okdiario’s reports became part of a large-scale campaign against the political opponents of Mariano Rajoy’s government. During this period, from 2012 to 2017, representatives of the Interior Ministry and police actively used disinformation to discredit parties opposing the ruling administration, including Podemos and Catalan independence groups. Dozens of such episodes were recorded in the files of former commissioner José Manuel Villarejo.
Reports about the transfers from Venezuela were spread not only on Okdiario’s website, but also on social media and on television broadcasts featuring Eduardo Inda. As a result, the false information gained widespread attention and dealt a serious blow to Iglesias’s reputation.
Court conclusions
The Supreme Court concluded that Okdiario and its director violated Pablo Iglesias’s right to honor, as the published information was not substantiated by objective and reliable sources. The judges emphasized that freedom of information does not justify the dissemination of unverified claims, especially when it concerns the reputation of public figures.
As a result, Okdiario is required not only to pay compensation, but also to remove all materials related to this case from the internet, and to take measures to ensure they do not appear in search engines. This decision may set an important precedent in the fight against fake news and the protection of citizens’ rights in Spain.
