The Las Palmas Press Association has protected journalist Carlos Sosa, whom former magistrate Salvador Alba, imprisoned for manipulating an investigation to harm his colleague Victoria Rosell, is sending to trial for his reports on the case in the digital newspapers 'Canariasahora.com' and 'eldiario.es'.
In the statement issued this Sunday, the Las Palmas Press Association has also warned of the threat that this type of legal proceedings poses to the "free journalistic practice that the Constitution shelters through the right to freedom of expression and communication."
Alba is requesting 23 years in prison for the journalist, arguing that the information he published about the case invaded his private sphere and promoted hatred against him, arguments that the Investigating Court number 27 of Madrid has upheld to open oral proceedings against Carlos Sosa for three crimes of revealing secrets, two of harassment and one of hatred against the criteria of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which sees nothing objectionable.
"This board understands that Carlos Sosa has limited himself to fulfilling his professional obligations, according to the deontological principles that the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE) and its associates propose to its members, that is, guaranteeing the right of citizens to receive truthful, rigorous and verified information based on social and journalistic interest and the editorial autonomy of each media outlet," the note reads.
The Las Palmas Press Association has stated that it does not share the Court's decision to open oral proceedings against Sosa, nor the high bail proposed against the journalist.
At the same time, it has expressed its concern about the possible labor, moral and professional consequences generated by this decision, as well as "the alarm that this complaint causes to the journalistic community insofar as the complainant was declared guilty by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) and, subsequently, by the Supreme Court."
And it has highlighted the Prosecutor's Office's favorable opinion of the journalist, which has supported the legality of the news related to the case of Salvador Alba, who has been serving a sentence of 6 and a half years in prison and 18 of disqualification since October 2022 after a ruling by the TSJC confirmed by the Supreme Court.
"No data not related to the news is published," according to the Prosecutor's Office, "and the data published comply with the judgment of necessity insofar as they are strictly limited to what is considered newsworthy, without exceeding what may have informative relevance or can be described as irrelevant, gratuitous or unnecessary," the association's statement reads.
The board, which has approved the publication of the protection statement by nine votes in favor and two against, has expressed its solidarity with the journalist and adheres to the principles of freedom of expression and information.
At the same time, it has expressed its desire that the appeal filed with the Provincial Court of Madrid be accepted and the dismissal of the alleged crimes of which Sosa is accused be agreed.
Salvador Alba has filed a lawsuit against the director of Canarias Ahora for a series of reports on episodes related to the sentence against him, which occurred when the TSJC tried to locate him to notify him of its decisions or when the then magistrate took medical leave and tried to have a series of health problems he suffered taken into account.
The former judge accuses the journalist of having illegally obtained and revealed without permission personal and specific data about his health, his address, his family life and the school where his daughter (a minor) studied, and of having generated a climate against him that caused him to receive hate messages through social networks.
For this reason, he accuses him of three crimes of revealing secrets (related to his wife, his daughter and himself), two of harassment (against his wife and against him) and of incitement to hatred, for which he not only asks for prison sentences, but also three compensations totaling 325,000 euros. EFE
The Las Palmas Press Association protects Carlos Sosa and warns of threats to free journalism
The director of Canarias Ahora will go to trial for a lawsuit filed against him by former judge Salvador Alba, convicted of corruption, against the Public Prosecutor's Office, which sees nothing objectionable.
