The Prosecutor's Office of the National Court (AN) has informed Judge Antonio Piña that this body is indeed competent to take on the investigation of a complaint filed against the singer Julio Iglesias by two former employees who attribute alleged sexual assaults and abuses in the workplace to him.
At the time, the Public Ministry decided last January to archive some preliminary proceedings, understanding that there was a "lack of competence" of the National Court to know the reported facts, supposedly occurring in the Caribbean area. However, it specified then that the complainants could "reproduce their complaint before the judicial bodies" they deemed appropriate.
Now, the prosecutor has sent the magistrate a new report in which he expresses support for the National Court to take on the case, as 'Eldiario.es' reported and sources from the Public Ministry have confirmed to Europa Press. From this opinion, it will be up to the instructor to decide whether or not to open a formal investigation.
Months after that initial archiving, the two former workers --who identify themselves as Rebeca and Laura-- filed a complaint before the AN in which they demand that alleged episodes of labor exploitation and sexual violence that would have occurred in 2021 in properties owned by the artist located in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic be investigated.
From the organization Women's Link, they maintain that the singer would have taken advantage of his "position of power" and the special vulnerability of the workers to "capture them, transfer them, and house them" in his residences, keeping them in a context of "constant intimidation" and allegedly subjecting them to repeated sexual assaults and "forced and degrading" working conditions.
The two former complainant employees --a domestic worker and a physiotherapist-- reported having suffered touching, insults, and humiliations during their professional activity, in an environment of permanent control and ongoing harassment, according to an investigation by 'Eldiario.es' in collaboration with Univision Noticias.
The entity that exercises its legal representation argues that the Spanish courts are competent under Article 23 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary, which allows for the prosecution of crimes committed outside the national territory by Spanish citizens when the legal requirements are met, as well as by virtue of the international treaties on human rights signed and ratified by Spain.