A hoax launched by the PP and amplified by a journalist who, at the same time, was part of the regional leadership of the party. The editor-in-chief of Esdiario who, being a member of the Executive of the Valencian PP of Carlos Mazón, published without verification that a professor from Pobla de Vallbona (València), to whom he falsely attributed the status of leader of Compromís, had slipped in the vaccination process, admitted before the judge who sentenced him that the origin of the hoax was a statement by the popular population of the town in the Camp de Túria region, including the spokesperson for the opposition on this issue was Abel Martí, the current mayor.
The author of the false information, condemned with the publishing company of the digital newspaper to pay 4,000 euros to the person affected by the commission of an illegitimate attack on honor and private life, assured that the damaged information came from of a “communication from the local PP” who was not compared to the indicated professor nor to Compromís, a party of which he was not even a member, despite the fact that “Esdiario” declared that he was a “ leader” of the coalition. The person concerned suffered anxiety following the publication of the alleged information and was on sick leave for two months.
After the sentence, which is not definitive, there is no longer any trace of the digital news item. However, the local PP maintains on its Facebook account a reaction to the publication of the “fake news”, dated March 24, 2021, in which it affirms that the (false) facts were “as shameful as they are serious”. “It is a despicable act that we must condemn,” he added.
Almost a month later, on April 17, 2021, the popular members of Pobla de Vallbona released a statement in which they directly called the teacher concerned a “scoundrel” and accused the then mayor of Compromís, Josep Vicent García Tamarit, of having concealed the person concerned. .
The PP called the teacher “vaccinated”
The former councilor of the PP in opposition and current mayor, Abel Martí, even questioned the invention during a tense municipal plenary session after the publication of the hoax. He did not listen to the reasons or explanations given by the government team. The press release concerning the plenary session, still available online, claims that the person concerned by the false information was a “prominent member” of Compromís. However, the judgment proves that the professor was not even a member of the coalition. Thus, the PP alluded to “the existence of a jetas vaccine”.
During the trial, the judge underlines in the sentence, the editor declared that everything was based on “a statement from the local PP, which accused him of the events it reflects”. He also admitted having only searched on social networks and in the electoral lists the link between the professor and Compromís, “which is insufficient to attribute to him the status of leader” of the coalition, affirms the power.
In short, the journalist “did not contrast the information received from the PP”, adds the judgment, which also highlights the status of the editor-in-chief of Esdiario as a member of the autonomous executive of the popular Valencians.
In the civil procedure, as the judge recalls, there is a certificate signed by the regional director of the PP, Montserrat Tello, which confirms that the journalist belonged, as Secretary of Communication, to the Executive Committee of the party headed by Carlos Mazón . He also held the position of secretary of the Open Forums Space of the PP of the city of Valencia, according to the certificate dated June 28, 2023.
The PP of Pobla de Vallbona did not respond to questions from this newspaper.
