MADRID, Spain — A Madrid court has ordered Podemos Secretary General and Member of Parliament Ione Belarra to pay 9,000 euros in damages to retired judge Manuel García-Castellón after determining that her public accusations of corruption violated his right to honor.
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The ruling, issued by the 45th Civil Court of First Instance in Madrid, partially upholds the lawsuit filed by the former magistrate. While García-Castellón had initially sought 350,000 euros in compensation, the presiding magistrate concluded that messages posted by Belarra on the social media platform X in September 2024 caused moral damage warranting the 9,000-euro penalty. In addition to the financial sanction, the court mandated that Belarra publish the contents of the ruling on her X profile or in a similarly prominent public medium where the initial infringement occurred.
The legal dispute originated from two posts Belarra published on X to mark the judge’s retirement, in which she labeled him and others as corrupt and accused him of judicial prevarication. She alleged that the magistrate had perverted justice to protect the conservative Popular Party (PP) and wage a “dirty judicial war” against her political organization. The lawsuit was initially brought before the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court due to Belarra’s status as a sitting member of parliament, invoking Article 56 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary. However, the high court declined jurisdiction, ruling that the social media posts were not made strictly in the exercise of her parliamentary duties, thereby transferring the case to the lower Madrid court.
✋ Ione Belarra habla después de ser indemnizada con 9.000 euros al juez García-Castellón por llamarle 'corrupto': "Es un Juez que ha protegido a los corruptos del PP" ⚖
— Malas Lenguas (@MalasLenguas_Tv) June 13, 2026
🗣 @MMContesti: "Son unas imputaciones muy graves, debería haber sido más inteligente"#MalasLenguasN pic.twitter.com/wkSQSlh0fL
In his decision, the magistrate rejected Belarra’s defense and her argument that the judge should bear the legal costs. The court found that the expressions used were “objectively injurious and gravely vexatory,” noting that directly attributing the status of a criminal and accusing a magistrate of prevarication and bribery constitutes the most severe professional imputation possible. The judgment emphasized that Belarra’s statements lacked any factual basis and amounted to pure professional disqualification. The magistrate also highlighted that the Public Prosecutor’s Office had supported the lawsuit, and noted that not even Belarra’s political party or its leaders had ever filed a formal criminal complaint against García-Castellón regarding the judicial actions she criticized. The court balanced the right to honor against the freedom of expression, ultimately determining that the statements crossed the line into unlawful defamation.
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Following the verdict, Belarra took to X to vehemently reject the court’s decision and reaffirm her accusations. She condemned the ruling, reiterating her claims that the retired judge had protected corrupt figures associated with the PP and the Plus Ultra airlines case, which involved controversial trips to Cartagena de Indias. Asserting that her political movement will not be silenced by legal persecution, she vowed to continue her opposition. Her stance was echoed by prominent party figures. Podemos spokesperson Pablo Fernández criticized the ruling as another example of the justice system’s flaws, guaranteeing that the party would continue to publicly label corrupt individuals as such and refusing to be intimidated. Similarly, Podemos Member of the European Parliament Irene Montero defended Belarra’s bravery, accusing the judge of waging a dirty war against her party and expressing hope that the awarded damages would not be spent on luxury trips to Cartagena de Indias.
