The Uruguayan justice system sentenced Romina Celeste Papasso, a former nationalist activist, to two years and one month in prison for filing a false complaint against Yamandú Orsi, a candidate for the Frente Amplio, and for various additional crimes.
The sentence was part of an abbreviated process agreed between Papasso’s defense and prosecutor Sandra Fleitas. The first accusation was made in May, after it was proven that the complaint, which she herself reported, was false. This complaint attributed to Orsi an assault on a trans woman in 2014.
Romina Celeste prosecuted for false accusation and other crimes
During the course of the hearing, other crimes were added to the initial charges when Papasso admitted his authorship in several incidents. Among them, the creation of a fake chat between Sebastián Mauvezín and a minor, in which sexual encounters with former senator Gustavo Penades were arranged.
She was also linked to the release of an intimate video of journalist Ignacio Álvarezand with an indictment filed by prosecutor Rodrigo Morosoli, who had arrested her at the Montevideo City Hall during the visit of Brazilian President Lula da Silva. Another charge included an anonymous complaint for instigating violence, in which Papasso had incited from her X account to detonate a bomb in Buenos Aires on the Day of Remembrance, March 24.
In relation to the false accusation against Yamandú OrsiPapasso was convicted of criminal association, simulation of a crime in the form of slander and defamation.
The additional charges included two crimes of simulating a crime as slander, private violence, dissemination of images of intimate content, two crimes of defamation, ideological falsification and public incitement to commit crimes.
Romina Celeste and a string of scandals
On May 8, Papasso had been charged solely with the case of the false accusation against Orsi. During the last hearing, the cases were consolidated and the sentence was handed down for all of them. Papasso was detained in the Juan Soler penitentiary center, in the department of San José, after having been admitted to a psychiatric clinic due to expressions of suicidal intentions. At the hearing, her defense requested that the sentence be served in said clinic.
Regarding the false accusation against Orsi, prosecutor Sandra Fleitas said that Papasso, together with Paula Díaz, planned the accusation, but due to “disagreements” a break arose in their relationship, which led both to present their versions on television.
Díaz participated in an interview on “Santo y Seña” while Papasso did so on “La Letra Chica.” According to Fleitas, the motivation for the false accusation was of an “economic nature,” with the intent of increasing his client portfolio in prostitution, a profession practiced by both Papasso and Díaz.
