Isabel Serra

Spanish court orders Podemos leader Ione Belarra to pay €9,000 to retired judge for calling him corrupt on X

A Madrid court has ruled that Podemos secretary general Ione Belarra must pay €9,000 in damages to retired National Court judge Manuel García Castellón after she labelled him ‘corrupt’ and ‘prevaricator’ in a 2024 post on X. Belarra and senior party figures immediately denounced the ruling as a judicial attack on free speech and political criticism.