Spain's Supreme Court blocks jailed MP's bid to be sworn in

Spain’s Supreme Court has blocked jailed MP Jordi Sànchez’s bid to be sworn in as Catalan president. The judge denied his request to attend the investiture debate set for this Friday or to take part via video link. This way, the session, called to appoint him as new Catalan leader, is unlikely to take place. This is the fourth debate to swear in an MP that has been hindered by the Spanish judiciary.

The Catalan deposed president, Carles Puigdemont, was denied permission to take part in such a session from Belgium in January, and senior MP Jordi Turull was barred from the second session of another investiture debate in March. Jordi Sànchez got his bid barred already once in March. This time he hoped to persuade the judge to change the original ruling, bearing in mind a recent statement made by the United Nations Committee on Human Rights.  

In March, the UN committee in Switzerland urged the Spanish authorities to take “all necessary measures to ensure” that the jailed Catalan MP Jordi Sànchez “can exercise his political rights” in accordance with article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.