TV3 will investigate the alleged intimidation of the vice-president of Junts and member of parliament, Francesc de Dalmases, into a journalist from the FAQS program after an interview with the leader of the formation, Laura Borràs. This has been requested by the president of the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA), Rosa Romà, who has demanded a report from the Catalan channel to "find out in the shortest possible time" what happened between Dalmases and the journalist of the TV3 program on last July 9th.
As revealed this Monday by Nació Digital and ElDiario.es, Dalmases allegedly grabbed the journalist's wrist and locked her in a dressing room to punch her for what she understood to be too awkward an interview with the President of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, following the trial. for the case opened against the president of Junts for splitting contracts during her time at the head of the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes (2013-2017).
Several witnesses would have witnessed the incident between Dalmases and the FAQS journalist, including Borràs herself, who according to these reports was present in the dressing room. These witnesses cited by both media report that they heard repeated screams and blows against objects, and affirm that they were "scared." The screams were such that, always according to this story, the manager of the program had to go to the place because the noise reached the set while the program continued.
Specifically, the Borràs team's complaint was about the questions asked by the program's collaborators after the initial interview with the FAQS presenter, Cristina Puig. "You can't do this to us," Dalmases would have reproached, according to witnesses, to which the journalist would have responded by emphasizing that they cannot control the questions of the collaborators – that day they were Agnès Marquès (RAC1), Òscar Fernández (Catalunya Ràdio), Carla Turró (Cadena SER) and Xabier Lapitz (ETB)–.
The episode would have lasted about 10 or 15 minutes and has been confirmed by the director of the program, Pere Mas: "I want to clarify that the information that has been published is true, the person affected did not want to report it and that is why I softened the incident."
From the works council of TV3 they have added that they are "strongly against intimidation and the attempt to coerce the right to information", for which they see "Dalmases' attitude against the FAQS journalist as intolerable".
"This arrogant attitude has no place in our media," adds the committee, which also sees an "intolerable and intimidating aggravating sexist look of a prominent politician yelling at a female journalist in a closed room." "It is an attack against the right to information, they show a controlling and anti-democratic conception of the media and an absolute lack of respect for citizens," he concludes.
Instead, Dalmases has denied the seriousness of the events. "I did not insult or attack anyone, it was a brief conversation and from a journalistic perspective I raised professional discrepancies," replied the Junts deputy, who is part of the circle closest to Borràs.
All in all, this Tuesday he ended up asking for "apologies to all those who may have felt offended". "I am very sorry that the FAQS team has felt annoyed by my attitude, everyone who knows me knows of my respect for the public media in Catalonia," added the Junts deputy in a message on Twitter.
Dalmases is part of the Grup Barnils of journalists, an association that has shown its "extraordinary concern" and has also announced that it has opened an internal investigation of what happened, understanding that the published facts "are far removed from the principles of the entity".
The Col·legi de Periodistes has also made a statement, warning that Dalmases' performance described by Nació Digital and ElDiario.es is "intolerable". "Enough of coercion and aggression against journalists," he adds.
At the political level and while Junts tries to reduce the seriousness of the events by limiting them to a discussion due to professional discrepancies and for which Dalmases has already apologized, from ERC, his partners in the Government, have asked that "everything be clarified". "As a journalist and as a deputy, I am very concerned about this information. There are behaviors that are intolerable. Always, always, maximum support for professionals", underlined deputy Raquel Sans.
For its part, En Comú Podem has already advanced that it will ask about what happened in the next parliamentary committee of the CCMA. "You have to find out what has happened and ask what measures are planned to be taken, and if that is the case, you will have to assume responsibilities," Deputy Susanna Segovia warned.
The representative of the commons has added that, if confirmed, the facts are "absolutely inadmissible" and has recalled that a deputy "has a code of conduct that requires respect towards information professionals."
The spokeswoman for the Government, Patrícia Plaja, also spoke on Tuesday at the press conference after the Consell Executiu. Plaja has positively valued that the CCMA and the Grup Barnils investigate the case, given that "it is essential to clarify what has happened due to the seriousness of the accusations".
