Netflix moved millions of viewers with the real case of Spain, which quickly captured the attention of its audience. “The Asunta case”a miniseries of six episodes of less than an hour each, delved into the details of Operation Water Lilyexecuted by the Spanish authorities. This production premiered on April 26 and quickly became among the most viewed titles in Argentina.. The impact of the series was such that even one of the condemned sent a letter to the creator of the series.
“The Asunta case”: the story of the murder of a girl that paralyzed Spain and now revolutionizes Netflix
The subjectwho was adopted from China when she was one year old by her Galician parents, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterralawyer and journalist respectively, He disappeared on September 21, 2013, shortly before his 13th birthday. Tragically, his body was found hours later near a road in Santiago de Compostela, with the autopsy, revealing death by asphyxiation and high doses of lorazepam in his system.
Authoritarians don’t like this
The practice of professional and critical journalism is a fundamental pillar of democracy. That is why it bothers those who believe they are the owners of the truth.
His adoptive parents were quickly named as suspects.s and condemned. The adaptation of their story was brought to the screen by Ramón Campos, Jon de la Cuesta, Gema R. Neira and David Orea, with Candela Peña and Tristán Ulloa playing the parents. Alfonso Basterra, still from prison, communicated with the creator of the miniseries, a gesture that he had already repeated on other occasions and for other productions, although always using a different approach.. This correspondence occurred in 2017, coinciding with the release of another relevant documentary.
What does the letter that Alfonso Basterra say?
“Dear Mr. Campos: in previous letters, I I have transmitted the rage and anger that has been destroying and devouring me for three years. Rage and anger towards the investigating judge, towards the prosecutor, the lawyers for the private prosecution, the media and, very particularly, towards the person who ended my girl’s life.
“But these feelings would inevitably lead me towards madness and self-destruction, and that is something that I cannot and should not tolerate, because I would abandon the essence of my self, of which something still remains, and I would end up defeated by forces other than me. So After much thought, I have understood that forgiveness is my path. The only possible way to stay on my path and overcome this great challenge that destiny has given me.
“You may not believe it, but after many hours of meditation, I consider that this new direction is, in addition to being correct, the definitive one. I cannot fall into episodes of anger like the ones I have experienced again.. What’s more, I have come to the conviction that all of them acted under a professional sign of which they were convinced and in accordance with the purest of ethics. Totally wrong, but without breaking the law and without any intention of condemning for the sake of condemning.
“You will be surprised, but when within six years, at least, he/she has the third grade Instead of murdering those mentioned, as I imagined on so many occasions, what I really want is to sit in a cafeteria with them and debate, if they wish, what that trial was about.
“But what I will never do is demand forgiveness from them, quite the opposite, I will be the one to offer you my apologies for such terrible thoughts arising from an unimaginable madness that I do not wish on anyone.. And for the same reason, I will do the same with my daughter’s murderer, because now I am convinced that her action was the result of that madness, since no one in full use of their mental faculties would commit a monstrosity like that. that.
To finish I will make a confession: When I regain my freedom, I have the firm intention of disappearing, no one will hear from me again.not even Rosario Porto.
I only have one reason to stay alive, which is none other than to be a free man again and reunite with my girl, Never before. In fact, I have already thought about the how and the where, I just need the when, but everything comes.
My true sentence is not prison, Mr. Campos, but not having been able to help her when she needed me most.. That’s something I can never forgive myself for. So, when you hear of my death, I beg you to uncork a bottle of cava and toast with your loved ones. Only then will you understand that I have regained my happiness. “My girl needs me and I need her.”
The anger of the judge in the Asunta case with the Netflix series: “It makes me very sad”
A few weeks ago, Netflix launched “The Asunta case”, a miniseries that, if not for the surprising success of “Baby Reindeer”would have topped the platform’s trends much sooner.
The Spanish series narrates the real case of the murder of Asunta Basterra, a 12-year-old girl, adopted daughter of Rosario Porto, a lawyer, and Alfonso Basterra, a journalist. In 2013, the girl’s body was found on the side of a road in La Coruña, Spain, triggering a game of cat and mouse between the police, the judge José Antonio Vázquez Taín and the main suspects of the crime. The girl’s parents were the first to be identified. At the time of her death, they were separated and had a complicated relationship.
Recently, the judge in charge of the case, Vázquez Taín shared his opinion on how he was portrayed in the series and criticized the approach it gave to Asunta’s story.
In “The Asunta Case”, the character based on Vázquez Taín is played by Javier Gutiérrez and is named Malvar. During an interview on Telecinco’s “Vamos a ver”, the judge praised the work of the Spanish actor, although he admitted to having seen only one episode. “Javier Gutiérrez is a great actor and a great person. (I have) nothing to reproach. On the contrary. I think he has tried to do his best to try to leave me in the best place, but it has not been achieved”said his honor.
Angry with the image that the series leaves of him, he added: “I am worried that it will once again be questioned whether Justice in Spain is correct and whether the evidence is manipulated. I didn’t judge those people (Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra), I was in charge of the instruction. They were tried by nine juries and they determined it (their involvement in the crime) unanimously. So, trying again to sow doubts… I’m calm.”
In the end, he concluded that the series would have been better if it had focused its focus on Asunta herself instead of focusing on her parents. “I am very sorry. Because she was a very special, wonderful girl, and I think it was time to make a drama where we really put into value how two normal people – not that they are degenerates, mentally ill or animals, but that they are people like any other – can – destroying the brilliant life of a girl through a lack of empathy and depriving her of her adolescence, her life and all the future she had ahead of her,” the judge concluded.
JCCL CP