Elisa Mouliaá withdraws sexual abuse accusation against Íñigo Errejón

MadridOne month after the judge decided to send Íñigo Errejón to trial Regarding an alleged sexual assault against Elisa Mouliaá in 2021, the actress has announced that she is withdrawing the accusation. "It's not a retraction, it's a boundary," she explained in a tweet. She emphasized that, after the resignation of the former spokesperson for Sumar in Congress Following anonymous accusations and seeing the emergence of narratives suggesting they might be false, she came forward to "show her face" to "confirm that everything was true" and "protect other women." Now, after thirteen months of investigation, she believes that "the truth is out on its own." "Over time, no other victim has come forward. I've been carrying all of this alone, and I can't continue doing so. No one should have to bear something like this alone," the actress argues. Mouliaá He was asking for three years in prison for Errejón and a €30,000 compensation payment, which she has now waived. "I'm not running away, I'm finishing my part by demonstrating that I don't want money or the limelight," she emphasizes. In the document she has submitted to the courts, she highlights that Judge Adolfo Carretero saw "indications of criminality" in the complaint and stresses that she is not retracting her account, but rather making a decision based on "strictly personal and health reasons" after experiencing a "feeling of exposure and exhaustion."

The prosecution favors dismissing the case, considering that the commission of a crime has not been sufficiently justified, but it does acknowledge the "full veracity" of the victim's account: "She stated that she did not want the sexual relationship in the terms in which it ultimately unfolded, [but] it has not been proven that the accused was aware that the relationship was sexual." Now, despite the public prosecutor's opposition and the withdrawal of the private prosecution, the legal proceedings will continue because there is a public prosecution: the Specialized Association for the Comprehensive Defense of Victims (ADIVE). Lawyer Jorge Piedrafita assures ARA that he will maintain the prosecution: "However powerful the accused may be, these serious acts cannot go unpunished, and we must safeguard the rights of the victim, who has suffered enormous distress and exposure alone," he points out.

Can Errejón be tried without Mouliaá's complaint?

ADIVE is confident that the case will not fall on deaf ears. They point to the Nóos case: ten years ago, the Palma Provincial Court kept Cristina de Borbón, King Felipe VI's sister, in the dock as an accomplice in two tax fraud offenses committed by her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, even though she was only accused by the pseudo-union Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), and they sought to exclude her from the trial. ADIVE hopes for the same outcome now.

However, when questioned by ARA, sources from Errejón's defense cited Article 191 of the Penal Code, which establishes that in cases of sexual assault, a complaint from the victim or a formal accusation from the Public Prosecutor's Office is necessary. This should lead the investigating judge to cancel the opening of the oral proceedings because, according to these same sources, the private prosecution "lacks standing to initiate the proceedings." Errejón, for his part, will maintain his lawsuit against Mouliaá for defamation. The Madrid Provincial Court could also rule on the appeal filed by Errejón's lawyer, Eva Gimbernat, requesting that the case be dismissed. The document, to which this newspaper had access, argued that the proceedings carried out during the investigation "rule out the existence of even the slightest indication of criminality" and "corroborate the fabricated account of the complainant."

The fall of Errejón

It all started a little over a year ago, when the actress Errejón denounced After the former spokesperson for Sumar resigned from all his public positions and left politics, admitting to "toxic" behavior with women, Mouliaá recounted three incidents during a party five years ago. First, in the elevator, Errejón kissed her on the mouth "without her consent." Then, at the party, he locked her in a room and touched her again without her consent. The third incident occurred at Errejón's home, when he again "touched and groped her without her consent" until she asked him to stop. When he testified as a suspect, Errejón denied doing anything without the actress's consent.