What happened to Juan Carlos Monedero, the second founder of Podemos accused of sexual abuse?

MadridAfter Íñigo Errejón, another co-founder of Podemos, Juan Carlos Monedero, was accused of alleged sexual abuse. According to the purple party, in September 2023 they received an email from a woman who reported that the co-founder of the party had had behaviors that could be considered sexual violence, such as "touching on the waist and the buttocks." On those same dates, members of the management received another witness from a second victim who requested that Monedero be removed from the party's events for a more serious case. Podemos maintains that they acted "from the first minute" and stopped inviting him to party activities. This Thursday it was learned that the Complutense University of Madrid has opened a file on Monedero, a professor of political science at this center, also for a case of alleged sexual abuse.

All this has hit the media sphere following the publication in the newspaper Abc This Wednesday, an audio recording of Sergio Gregori, a former collaborator of Canal Red, Pablo Iglesias' platform, was made in which he commented that he had received possible "very strong" cases of sexual abuse and "drooling" by Monedero. Later, this Thursday Eldiario.es The party has revealed the email of September 12, 2023 that motivated Monedero himself to communicate through X two days later that he was leaving the direction of the Fundación Democracia y República, linked to Podemos. The secretary general of Podemos, Ione Belarra, praised his figure in a tweet without making any mention of the complaint. According to the party, Monedero's departure from the foundation was communicated then and not when it was actually agreed, in May 2023, so as not to coincide with the elections of June 23. Following the complaints, he was removed from any type of activity linked to the party, although the reasons were not communicated to him.

Regarding Podemos's actions with the victims, a few days after receiving the email, the party offered the woman reporting a "confidential and secure" way to address the case and provide more information, but received no response. It was a "general" explanation of the behaviour that Monedero had, along with several people. Regarding the second case, party sources point out that the woman did not want to make it public and does not want to now either, so they do not detail the aggression, although they point out that it is more serious. "The priority of the organisation has always been to fulfil its obligation to be a safe space for all women, in addition to recognising those who have offered their testimony and respecting their decisions," say Podemos sources. For this reason, they did not communicate the reasons for Monedero's expulsion in September 2023.

Monedero defends himself

In a long tweet to X, Monedero responded on Wednesday night to the audio of the former Canal Red collaborator, regretting that he accused her "without further evidence and with coarse phrases." "I don't think it's very fair. You can't just let something sound like a crime and just say it," she complains. "I still have a lot to learn in the debate on feminism. We can always do things better. I have defended and believe in the only yes is yes, because it makes us all freer [...]. Likewise, no relationship or behaviour can be suspected of being punishable," he adds.