The former president of Ademal, Raquel Córdoba, states that she is sorry for the "adjectives" she used against Seprona agents, but questions the ruling that condemns her for a crime of slander and has announced that she will appeal the decision. Córdoba believes that "the case has not been properly assessed", as she defends that in the publication she made on Facebook she does not give "any name or any surname", and that she only shared and commented on "a news item in which several Civil Guards were called to testify".
"I am sorry because I believe that these are not the ways for anything and for anyone, but I have not been given the opportunity to apologize, because there has not been a prior conciliation, which is normally done before the trial," she maintains.
The ruling, which is not yet final, imposed a fine of 3,600 euros and the obligation to compensate two Seprona agents with 1,000 euros each.
"We are preparing this appeal among several people. The truth is that we are quite dismayed with the ruling of this judge," explains the former president of Ademal, who believes that "several defects in form and interpretation of the evidence are seen", which is one of the things they are going to allege before the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
The events date back to June 26, 2020, when Raquel Córdoba wrote: "How sad it is that the 3 Seprona agents in Lanzarote are charged with not doing their job and for leaving, with this omission of duty, animals tortured to the point of causing them almost death on the road. On July 7, the judge has urged them to testify before him. For all this and more, these 3 vile, cowardly and professionally worthless beings, unfit to wear the uniform of the Benemérita can end up with their bones in jail. Remember everyone the case of the dog King, beaten and tortured by Sergio and Alberto Hernández Socas. Remember that it was Sergeant Gloria Moreno of Seprona who initiated the proceedings that these 3 supposedly corrupt and heartless policemen tried to prevent from seeing the light. How do we defend ourselves from the police who have to provide a service to society and animals? What kind of vocation do these energumens have towards poor living beings? Do not forget these names and if you find them on the street, better change sidewalks".
Now, Córdoba admits that she is not "the person to judge anyone" and that her qualifications were not appropriate, although she defends that it was a "tantrum, because it is also very hard to be on this side and see that things do not work out" and that the complaints "are not processed". "It has been a product of indignation, of sadness, but I am not happy or happy to have written this," she says.
"Out of context"
In any case, Raquel Córdoba believes that her words have been taken "a little out of context". "I am not in this world, I do not know how many people make up Seprona. I can imagine that there are 10, 15 or 20. I really did not know at that time the number of agents. If a Seprona agent, who has to have a vocation to defend nature and animals, who already have few rights, does not try to prosecute this crime, it does seem serious to me. And I say corrupt supposedly because it has been seen that there are a lot of complaints that have not been processed, no proceedings have been done. They always look the other way," she maintains.
"This happened more than two years ago, we must also focus on the fact that I was not even in Ademal at that time. I did not even have the Proyecto Podencos protectora. I have a career of 30 years in the animal field, trying to help, but always personally and in what I could. In the crime of slander and libel, especially look that it is a person with some relevance, that your words have echo somewhere," she says, insisting that at that time she did not represent the association.
Regarding what this experience has meant, she emphasizes that it is the first time she went to the Courts for "something other than filing a complaint", in her name or on behalf of Ademal. "The truth is that you have a very bad time when you are on the other side and especially when you have the firm conviction that you have done nothing, nothing that is not speaking freely or expressing an opinion," she says.
Resignation from the presidency
Raquel Córdoba has also explained that she left the presidency of Ademal about three weeks ago, although she has stressed that "not because of this issue".
"It was already time to call new elections, I had been there for almost two years. And it is true that it is such a hard, so daily burden, that I have asked Ademal for a little time for a physical and psychological recovery. I already look like a corpse of the person I was before entering. I have asked for time, I do not leave it, but I need to recover a little, to return with more force," she concludes.
