The book ‘El odio’, in which the writer and journalist Luisgé Martín collects the confessions of José Bretón about the murder of his two children, Ruth and José, which occurred in 2011, will be released, «almost certainly by the end of the year,» as sources close to the author have explained to Europa Press. The work will include an added essay.
Although the book was set to be published by Anagrama last March, the publisher halted the publication after the complaint from Ruth Ortiz, mother of Ruth and José. Initially, the Catalan publishing house defended its right to edit the book, and the Barcelona Court confirmed the dismissal of the precautionary measure requested by the Prosecutor’s Office to halt the publication of the work. However, Anagrama ultimately decided to terminate the contract with the journalist in April.
Martín regained the rights to the book, stating that he intended to publish his work and that Anagrama had «felt fear of social pressure.» It is currently unknown whether the work will be self-published or released under another publishing label.
EQUALITY CONSIDERS BANNING MURDERERS FROM DISSEMINATING INFORMATION
Following the controversy surrounding the book, the Ministry of Equality announced that it is considering a reform of the Penal Code to prohibit murderers of vicarious violence — that which is exerted against loved ones, such as children, to harm women — from disseminating information through media or other channels to harm the victim, as in the case of the book about Bretón.
The Government Delegate against Gender Violence, Carmen Martínez, stated in April that they have a «very advanced» draft law that will also define and punish this violence.
«We want to establish that in certain cases where the dignity of the victims is attacked, where they are further victimized after already being harmed, we want to include in the penalties, measures outlined in the Penal Code. We want to establish that the dissemination, publication of content specifically aimed at continuing to harm the victims, revictimize. So you understand, the Bretón case,» Martínez pointed out.
In any case, it is not that this measure or penalty can always be imposed, but the intention is «for the judicial bodies to have it at their disposal when they see that the publication, dissemination of content, specifically aims to harm the victim or is causing additional harm.»
Likewise, they want to be able to sanction the «against the law» use of figures like false parental alienation syndrome or similar ones «that are renamed.»
«It is still being widely used by services that need to inform the judicial bodies, different services, multidisciplinary court teams, family meeting points, child care services, and so on. I won’t go into detail about which services, but this figure and similar ones are still being used, and judicial resolutions continue to be based on reports that have used this figure against the law,» she explained.
At the same time, with this regulation, they want the victims of vicarious violence to be recognized as victims of gender violence to ensure they have the same rights and to guarantee the right of minors to be heard whenever judicial or administrative decisions affect their lives.