JULIO Iglesias is ‘preparing’ his defence against sexual abuse and human trafficking allegations made by two female ex-employees.
The 82-year-old singer spoke by telephone with the celebrity magazine Hola!
The publication said Iglesias told them the truth would come out and everything would be clarified, but provided no direct quotes from the conversation.
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‘Iglesias is preparing his defence and wishes to clear any doubts about what happened’, Hola! wrote.
The magazine said it obtained the exclusive interview thanks to a years-long friendship with him.
Iglesias’s entourage has denied the accusations in private and is shocked, Hola! added.
The story published late on Wednesday came after accusations revealed by elDiario.es and the US television channel Univision the previous day.
The women — a domestic worker and a physiotherapist — allege they suffered sexual and other forms of abuse while working at Iglesias’s properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.
Advocacy groups Women’s Link Worldwide and Amnesty International said a complaint filed with Spain’s National Court on January 5 outlined alleged acts that could be considered ‘a crime of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour’ and ‘crimes against sexual freedom’.
It is alleged that Iglesias subjected them to ‘sexual harassment, regularly checked their mobile phones, restricted their ability to leave the home where they worked, and required them to work up to 16 hours a day without days off´
Jovana Rios Cisnero, executive director of Women’s Link, said the complainants would testify before public prosecutors at an unspecified date, saying it was ‘a very important step in the search for justice’.
The organisation’s legal director for Europe, Gema Fernandez, said the complaint was submitted in Spain and not the Caribbean countries where the crimes allegedly took place because Spanish legislation on gender-based violence and trafficking ‘may be an interesting option to provide access to justice for these women’.
Iglesias’s former manager Fernan Martinez told Telecinco that he was ‘very affectionate’ and enjoyed ‘physical contact’ but stressed he never saw him ‘behave aggressively’.
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