The one that affects Gustavo González and Diego Arrabal is a sentence that could set a damaging precedent for the profession, according to those affected. “We are all risking it here,” warns Gustavo González. The photojournalist was sentenced at the end of February along with his former partner Diego Arrabal to ten months in prison and a 1,400-euro fine for a crime of revealing secrets: the presenter Mariló Montero was enjoying a vacation in Bora Bora (French Polynesia) and the photos From their relaxation –some in topless– they arrived at the Lecturas editorial office. Although the material was not finally purchased and did not see the light of day, the Barcelona Court has believed that both reporters tried to profit from the sale of the report.
Gustavo González settled in Catalonia some time ago to start a family with María Pasqual. They married and have had a daughter, Mia. All those who did not give a penny for the reporter’s bet have seen how wrong they were. Last night they attended the premiere of Ser at the Victoria Theater in Barcelona, ??the show by international dancer Sergio Bernal, and La Vanguardia was there to ask him about a judicial process from which he has not yet woken up.
How do you feel after the setback of a conviction?
I still maintain the same thing, look, as Pedro Sánchez said the other day, I believe in justice. I don’t trust who runs it that much. The thing is… That they do not agree on the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary indicates to me that there is some way to influence who administers justice. I have experienced things that have made me disappointed, and I am being very light, but I continue to trust. The thing is that this is causing us exhaustion.
Of course, you did not expect to be condemned.
Anyone who has seen a little of what the summary plus the prosecutor’s reports is like, would have only seen one path. Well, the prosecutor has asked for the file again, which is very significant. That other things happen later? Well, we are prepared; We will go to the end, to European justice if necessary.
Aside from suffering exhaustion, disappointment, stress, and spending a lot of money paying lawyers, how has this process influenced your work? Are there photos that you would take before and now you don’t dare to take?
I have been in a profession that has changed significantly for more than 30 years. Right now a topless photo is taken and you can’t publish it anywhere. And I’m not complaining, mind you. I mean that the publications from a few years ago such as Interviú, Sorpresa, Qué me dice or other titles where they can be published no longer exist. Nor programs like Martian Chronicles or DEC. It would be unthinkable at this time. I insist: I am not complaining, I am simply saying that, after more than 30 years in this, we have been adapting to the circumstances, the laws, whatever. And nothing happens, there we are still on the knife’s edge. Now, what has happened with this specific case is amazing. It’s amazing.
Summarize the reason for your state of disbelief.
We are talking about photos taken in a public place, under European jurisdiction, that are not published, have not been sold or disseminated and that on top of that were not made by us, how then can there be two such brutal sentences? What’s more: the criminal proceedings had been archived. It was reopened after the deadline and that is why I distrust who administers that justice. Our lawyer, who has a lot of experience in this sector – he has always defended Diego Arrabal and won lawsuits as well – confessed to us when we were in the civil proceedings that he saw things that were not normal: we left very happy and he warned us, ‘ Be careful, because what has happened with the prosecutor’s office, what they have asked for, gives me a very bad feeling, you will be condemned.’ We didn’t believe it but that’s how it was. A brutal sentence.
At what point is the process?
We have presented an appeal to which the prosecutor’s report is added, asking again for the file because it sees no evidence of a crime and also adheres to our rejection of other matters being tried for this reason.
Are you referring to the report by Mariló Montero in the Maldives that Lecturas published?
That’s how it is. We have presented evidence of a report that should not worry us: first, because again we are not the authors; second, because as the director of the magazine Lecturas acknowledged in court, it was published with the approval of the plaintiff, retouched to her liking and which she herself showed on her television program. We shouldn’t be worried but given what we’ve seen, anything can happen.
How is work going now?
I do more reporting for the international market, for foreign media. I am a survivor and I adapt to what there is. Fortunately, in Catalonia there are many international celebrities, filming, advertising, etc. Very recently I signed a very nice one with Tim Burton as the protagonist visiting the Gothic, the Sagrada Familia… A few days ago, another one to Victoria Beckham [In Begur (Girona) and with crutches] that although it is not published in Spain it is of interest abroad and the most recent, the photos of Iñaki Urdangarin that were on the cover of Semana. By the way, BM Granollers, the handball team where Pablo Urdangarin plays, are delighted with the photojournalists: the team’s sponsor had never seen such a media echo.
