Valeria Ripoll, vice-presidential candidate of the PN, accused of alleged threats in a neighbourhood conflict

💣RIPOLL REPORTED

🔥Valeria Ripoll appeared -with police- at a house in the Mercado Modelo to cut off electricity and water to an elderly woman (her sister’s neighbor) due to neighborhood disputes.

🔥The Ripoll couple cut off the electricity at the entrance to the old woman’s house.

🔥The three reported to the Prosecutor’s Office. pic.twitter.com/cYowA9VVpi

— Eduardo Preve (@EPreve) August 6, 2024

Valeria Ripoll, a candidate for the National Party, has been implicated in a complex neighbourhood dispute and was denounced in the last few hours by a lawyer for the alleged victim. The candidate, however, has denounced what she considers to be a “political persecution” led by “political operators”, stating that the matter primarily involves her sister and not her directly.

On Tuesday, Darío Madeiro, a lawyer from the Francisco Pérez Center’s Neighborhood Office, filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Valeria Ripoll and expanded a previous one against her sister Joana Ripoll, in the context of a persistent conflict between neighbors of a condominium complex in the former Mercado Modelo area.

According to Madeiro’s statements to the newspaper The DailyValeria Ripoll allegedly entered the building where her sister lives in the early hours of last Sunday, accompanied by four police officers.

Their intention was to force two neighbours – a 34-year-old man and his 86-year-old grandmother – to appear at the 12th police station to testify regarding several complaints that have been filed by both parties in this prolonged neighbourhood dispute.

Accusations and Counterpoints

Madeiro, who is defending the neighbours accused by the Ripoll sisters of threats, said that the former union leader facilitated the entry of the police into the building’s common courtyard.

According to the lawyer, Joana Ripoll threatened to evict her clients by force. The original controversy revolves around the installation of a security camera by the neighbors, which the Ripoll sisters argue is a violation of their privacy.

Madeiro justified the action by saying that the camera was installed due to “recurring false accusations” by the Ripoll sisters.

The lawyer expressed deep concern for the vulnerability of his clients, especially the 86-year-old woman. Madeiro detailed several disturbing incidents, including one where Valeria Ripoll’s husband cut off the defendants’ electricity supply under police supervision.

She added that the elderly woman is the only resident who pays the building’s common expenses, which makes her disadvantaged situation worse.

Statements by Valeria Ripoll

In the context of the neighbours’ refusal to appear at the police station without a court order, Valeria Ripoll insisted that the 86-year-old woman was physically able to leave her apartment.

According to Madeiro, Ripoll claimed that the elderly woman “was not disabled,” which was recorded in the complaint. Given this situation, the lawyer expanded the complaint to include charges of harm against Ripoll’s husband and influence peddling against the vice-presidential candidate.

Joana Ripoll, contacted by The Dailybriefly stated that the conflict has lasted for a considerable time, involving physical altercations that were reported since January. However, he refrained from making any further statements, referring the case to his sister Valeria.

Political persecution

Valeria Ripoll, in statements to MVD Noticias, described the complaint as “political persecution” that attempts to tarnish her image in an electoral context. “This has to do with my sister. She has the same last name as me, and unfortunately, this type of political persecution ends up hurting the family,” Ripoll said.

The right-wing candidate explained that the neighborhood conflict began in January, when her sister Joana reported a 40-year-old man for assault.

Ripoll described the man as “extremely aggressive” and dismissed the current complaint against him as a political diversionary tactic, explaining that if his critics can only talk about trivial details such as his cell phone payments or his bank loan, it indicates that “they have nothing to object to in his life.”

Valeria Ripoll concluded by saying: “If that is going to be the form of campaign proposed by various political operators, then that is their problem.”