Margot Llobera criticises police-led probe into sexist Instagram posts

Former motorcycle racer and designer Margot Llobera has criticised the Batllia for entrusting the police with the investigation of alleged sexist defamation posted about her on Instagram. Llobera filed a criminal complaint in March 2020, and the case remains unresolved.

Llobera told the Constitutional Court she suspects some of the authors of the posts could be members of the police force and argued it would have been procedurally preferable for the judicial office to summon the suspects directly rather than delegate such a sensitive investigative act to the police. She also protested that it took nearly three years to decide to summon the people named in the complaint.

In February the Constitutional Court agreed that the Batllia had been operating with abnormal delay and gave it six months either to adopt a decision or to provide a reasoned explanation for further delay. After eight months without a resolution, Llobera returned to the Court, but this time the Court did not admit her latest constitutional appeal for processing.

The Court noted that earlier this year the specialised Batllia had recused itself in favour of an ordinary instruction section, meaning there had been procedural movement on the case. In its reasoning the Court reiterated that the Instagram posts and stories referring to Llobera had a markedly sexist character, mocked her as a woman, and contained insults aimed at damaging her dignity, undermining her self‑esteem and causing her to lose sponsors.

Nevertheless, the Court found that, despite the regrettable delay, it could not be said that no action had been taken: the case has been transferred among different judicial offices, which has contributed to the investigation’s slow progress. The matter is now pending before the ordinary instruction section, and Llobera’s objections to the handling of the probe remain unresolved.