Those who “must pay for it”: once I was threatened to tell the Dana | Opinion | EUROtoday

“More than half of the research staff that communicates on science in the media admits to suffering attacks.” This is the top of the survey revealed simply over two months in the past by Science Media Center Spain (SMC) of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Gureiker Research Group, from the University of the Basque Country. To those that in a technique or one other are devoted to science and to speak science, these conclusions don’t shock us and, in truth, a month earlier than the publication of this survey I suffered a kind of assaults via Twitter (now x) .

On November 4, 2024, at 21.25, I acquired this message: “This is José Ángel Núñez, head of @aemet_cvalencia. He said only a few hours before the Dana caused death and destruction in Valencia that the storm would go to the north (Castellón) and that the red alert ended at 18. The Dana arrived at 18.30. You must pay for it. See ”.

Less my identify, which is right, the remainder of the content material of the message or accommodates inaccurate information, together with the place attributed to me, or information taken from context, such because the video that accompanies the tweet, during which it appears that evidently I say what I do not say. The creator of the tweet is Javier Negre, a journalist, as you’ll be able to learn in his profile of that social community, during which he has greater than 350,000 followers.

It could seem yet one more menace, however on this case the context during which it occurred was additionally crucial. Six days earlier than, on October 29, the flooded catastrophic that brought on an unprecedented catastrophe in a number of a long time in Spain had occurred, with 227 useless solely within the province of Valencia. Five days after the floods, on November 3, Javier Negre himself revealed a tweet with the next textual content: “They do not want to tell the time in which Sanchez visits with the kings the affected municipalities. One of them will be a mule except change of plans. Yesterday were responsible for the Royal and Moncloa house supervising everything. If you catch you close you already know. PD: the king is not to blame. ” If you catch you shut, I mentioned negre your followers. Do what if it catches you close to?

That go to of the authorities to Paiporta ended with insults and aggressions to the kings of Spain, to the president of the Government and the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, though in no case with critical outcomes.

In that tense environment, I acquired the specter of Javier Negre on November 4. When I noticed the tweet, I acquired very nervous. I’m neither president nor director of something, however a modest official of the General State Administration who, after all, doesn’t have any sort of safety. It was evening, however I didn’t hesitate and went to the police station to file a criticism, since at the moment I feared for my integrity. When I arrived on the police station, I used to be trembling and I used to be not in a position to get the id card from the portfolio to determine, though little by little, thanks additionally to the sensitivity of the service police that day, I used to be reassuring myself.

As a results of the discomfort and anguish that these threats generated, added to the amassed stress of the earlier days in emergency administration, I used to be a medical go away 40 days and, as I feared for my bodily integrity, I additionally needed to abandon my dwelling 10 days. In the primary assessment, as my situation was worse, my physician referred me to the psychological help companies to the victims of the floods, the place I’ve felt completely handled. During these three months I’ve been attended by a psychiatrist, with whom I had the final seek the advice of In case there was any relapse, which didn’t rule out.

Three months have handed since that menace. I actually do not know what Javier Negre’s intentions had been with that “must pay for it.” I took it as a menace, not as a result of it might be executed instantly by him, however by a few of his followers. Although maybe it was not a menace, and this was additionally understood by the top of the Court of Instruction no 1 of Valencia, who, within the order of provisional dismissal, filed the trigger, since “the alleged shed threats do not have such concept in their term literal ‘must pay for it. ”

With this end result, I’ll now not denounce insults or threats of such traits, as a result of it’s losing time, extra if we have in mind the just about surrealist state of affairs during which the occasions had been developed with the court docket. On December 13, 40 days after placing the criticism, I acquired a name from the Court of Instruction during which they knowledgeable me that the information had been described as a slight crime of threats and requested me to supply them with the domicile of the denounced to inform it , since, if I didn’t talk the tackle, the trigger can be filed. I mentioned that I neither had the domicile of Negre nor needed the trigger to be archived, however the case is that the dismissal automobile is dated December 19, six days after the decision (though the notification got here to me on January 28) , so I don’t rule out that the criticism has been filed with out even having communicated to the denounced.

As Nacho Carretero and Arturo Lezcano wrote in January 2024 in The weekly nation, Referring to way more critical information than those who I expose, however that additionally develop on social networks, “most of that huge hate soup stays virtual, but there are individuals who complete their radicalization process and go to the Action ”, though there isn’t a document that, within the case at hand, threats to scientists and disseminators of science in Spain, nothing critical occurred outdoors the networks. But, in response to the identical report a member of the National Police “is not a matter of whether it will happen, it is a matter of when.”

The report and the phrases of that police communicate of bodily violence, however, as we’ve got seen in my case, that “hate soup” could cause invisible accidents, typically so disabled or greater than seen wounds. No direct aggression is required to trigger deep injury. The SMC survey cited firstly signifies that at roughly 1 / 4 of the threatened and insulted within the networks they haven’t affected them, however the remaining recounts impacts of every kind, comparable to lack of productiveness (12.68%), nervousness or others Psychological issues (22.18%), worry for his or her bodily safety or that of their kinfolk (5.28%) and private insecurity (19.37%), amongst others.

In this poisonous atmosphere, many scientists and researchers hand over disseminating their work in worry of seeing their identify in a goal and, as well as, with whole impunity.

Dear colleagues, in view of the occasions reported, the conclusion is that we should pay for it, we should pay to do our job and talk the outcomes to society.