“They have turned their backs on me so many times that I feel there is no way out for me,” Loredana, a 24-year-old victim of sexist violence, is honest. A dejected and tired voice is heard on the other end of the phone, looking at the present with fear and uncertainty because she knows that in a matter of days she could go to prison.
The Government has rejected his pardon for a sentence of two years and nine months in jail for a crime of injury to his ex-partner, whom he had previously denounced for gender violence and against whom a restraining order was pending. "I thought it was going to be favorable, but when my lawyer told me that they had rejected it, the world fell on me," says the young woman, who received the news last Tuesday.
The events for which he was convicted took place on September 8, 2017, at around half past three in the morning, in Madrid. That night Loredana met her ex-partner whom she had denounced for sexist violence just six days before, after she beat him up in her own house. At that time, the attacker had a restraining order of 500 meters.
The young woman says that in that meeting she asked him for forgiveness and assured her that she was going to change. Loredana recriminated her lies and, at that moment, her ex-partner gave her a strong kick that knocked her to the ground.
Intent on defending himself, he picked up a piece of glass from the floor to "warn him to get off of me." In the struggle, Loredana ended up causing a two-centimeter cut on his cheek, very close to his eye.
A patrol, which was in the area, stopped them. Both went to a quick trial where neither testified, although he had Samur's injury report and a friend of his as a witness. His ex denounced her for the cut, but both agreed days later to withdraw the respective complaints to "turn the page." She gets to do it, but he doesn't, and the judicial process begins.
The head of the Criminal Court 2 of Móstoles acquits the man – 21 years old – considering that it was not proven that he assaulted Loredana – 19 – or that he knew that he had a restraining order in force on her issued five days before. The judge, on the other hand, sentences her to two years and nine months and to pay 8,750 euros to her ex-partner for civil liability.
However, Jacobo Teijelo, the young woman's lawyer, requested her pardon and, with this, managed to temporarily suspend the sentence until the Council of Ministers ruled on the measure of grace. In addition, the magistrate who paralyzed his entry into prison in November 2021 considered that the sentence had not taken into account "the condition of a victim of gender violence."
"I was very surprised that they did not grant us a pardon," the lawyer told this newspaper, describing the sentence as "serious and disproportionate," and even more so taking into account that "the executory judge stated that he supported the pardon because it was not had taken into account the gender approach”.
The truth is that Loredana reported the subject again, just two months after the events, for a crime of threatening her and her friend through text messages. "You are whores. I'm going to kill you, I didn't mind going to jail for both of them, ”she wrote to them. On this occasion, the attacker was sentenced in June 2018 to 11 months in prison and a ban on approaching the young women. Subsequently, the man was again convicted of gender violence in February 2021 for two crimes of injury to another ex-partner.
"It is surprising that the sentence does not make any mention of these facts, since being a victim of gender violence is an objective fact that must be considered together with the rest of the concurrent circumstances when assessing the statement in court of the defendant here" , appears in the order of the judge of execution to which La Vanguardia has had access. The magistrate refers to the sentence of June 2018 for the crime of threats, which is prior to the fact, which is from January 2019.
However, this background, the previous restraining order or the November sentence did not seem to be sufficient evidence for the judge, nor have they been for the Ministry of Justice, which has rejected the pardon. "We are with a sentence practically comparable to an attempted murder when it is a small cut by a person who is defending himself," says Jacobo Teijelo, who describes the case as a "scandal." The lawyer recalls that the judge also ignores the fear felt by the victim after the serious assault that occurred days before.
A fear that had been carrying since practically the beginning of the relationship, which lasted six months. "I couldn't go dressed as I wanted or talk to boys, and he wouldn't let me go out with my friends." To this psychological control violence was added the digital violence to which she also lived subjected: "I constantly checked my mobile and had all my passwords." “It was a toxic relationship, but at no time did I think that he would put his hand on me. Until six months later, she did it and in my own house, ”she was honest.
Loredana confesses that she has never come to believe the guilt dictated by the sentence and wonders what would have happened if she had not acted as she did: "Perhaps now she would be dead." The only thing left for her is to resubmit a pardon with which she hopes that her victimhood and the background of her ex will be taken into consideration. If they reject it again, Loredana will go to prison while the young man denounced for sexist violence —up to two times— will be released.
