“I felt ready to face a trial and defend my innocence. My lawyers were convinced that we had a winning trial. However, after many years of struggle, I have made this decision.” This is what Shakira states in a statement that she issued minutes after learning the news that has reached an agreement with the Treasury, recognizing the fraudassuming the debt and the fine and, in this way, avoiding jail.

For the Colombian artist, accused, remember, of an alleged fraud of 14.5 million euros with the Tax Agency, there were two options, she says. “Keep fighting until the end, mortgaging my peace of mind and that of my children“, stop making songs, albums and tours, without being able to enjoy my career and the things I like, or make an agreement, close and leave this chapter of my life behind looking forward.” At the trial, 117 witnesses testified in his favor.among them, well-known faces like Towthe singer of Maná and even his ex-partner before Gerard PiquéAntonio de la Rúa.

The singer was facing a demand for a sentence of eight years and two months in prison and a fine of 23.8 million euros, a request for a sentence that will be reduced by having reached this agreement with the accusations.

“I have come to the conclusion that It is not a triumph to win if the price is having so many years of your life stolen from you.“, she writes, bluntly, while claiming to “admire” “those Spanish citizens, like Xabi Alonso, Sito Pons and many others, who have fought to the end, investing years of their lives in this.” However, for her “Winning is getting your time back.”What good is it for me to win a procedure in the end if I have to fight for 10 or 15 years and lose everything along the way?“.

Shakira assures that they have been his own children who asked him to reach the agreement and shelved this matter. “I have to choose my battles and the most important one for me now is to do everything so that my children can live a full life and focus on what is really important: seeing them grow and spending time with them, without subjecting them to the anguish of seeing their mother in a criminal trial with the exhaustion that entails. They themselves have asked me, and I have made this decision for them. “They have lived through very hard times and I want them to finally see me happy and look forward together to the future.”

Finally, he throws a dart at the Spanish Tax System. “It needs to be reviewed for the good of the citizens“, he says. “For my part, I will continue to be an ally to make this happen. “There are many people who do not have the resources to pay for a good defense or even reach an agreement and have seen their lives erode before their eyes due to discrepancies with the Treasury that could have been resolved in an area outside of the prison.”

“It should be remembered that Shakira’s advisors were top-level prosecutors such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, that she always did everything they told her and paid all the debt before even filing the complaint. She declared – following instructions from her professionals – his residence since 2015 in Spain and, from then until his recent return to Miami, he paid all his taxes in this country. What the Treasury disputes with Shakira are the first years of courtship with his ex-partner; like 2011, where he only spent 70 days in Spain, without having any ties in this country other than a few days of romance,” his communication team defends in this writing.

“Despite all the efforts to defend her innocence, the criminal process and the pressure from the Tax Agency during these five years have generated for the artist a huge waste of time and resources“they say in the statement.