Politics

The trial over the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014, which took before Barcelona’s High Court former Catalan President Artur Mas amongst other members of the Government continues. This Tuesday, after Mas and former Catalan Ministers Irene Rigau and Joana Ortega’s testimony, the judges are analysing the role of the Catalan Ministry for Education in the non-binding consultation and several education inspectors and high school directors have testified on this matter. The magistrates aim to find out whether the cession of educative centre as polling stations on the consultation day constituted a crime. The Public Prosecutor has accused Mas, Ortega and Rigau of disobedience and breach of trust for allegedly ignoring the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) ban over the 9-N symbolic vote.

Many political representatives extended their support to former Catalan President, Artur Mas and Catalan Ministers Joana Ortega and Irene Rigau, who faced trial this Monday for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. “This trial should have never happened”, stated Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell and added that “putting out the ballot boxes can’t be considered a crime in any democratic country”. Indeed, Forcadell herself testified before the court for allowing the debate on Catalonia’s independence in the Catalan Chamber. The case produced not only a huge popular outrage but also international reaction. Members from the Catalan Executive and representatives from all those parties which expressed in favour of holding the 9-N non-binding referendum, showed their solidarity with the three accused and lamented that what was on trial this Monday was democracy as a whole.

Former Catalan President, Artur Mas, testified before the court this Monday for alleged disobedience and breach of trust for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. During his testimony, Mas insisted that the non-binding referendum “was not a personal whim or a last-minute idea” but “the consequence of wide parliamentary agreements and explicit and reiterated mandates of the Chamber”. Moreover, he emphasised that the 9-N "was unstoppable" since it was in the hands of volunteers rather than under the Government's control. Mas insisted that the 9-N took place “after democratic elections which nobody refuted nor questioned”. Mas refused to answer the Public Prosecutor’s questions after his testimony. Former Catalan vice-president, Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau have also declared before the judge.

More than 40,000 people filled Avinguda Lluís Companys in Barcelona this Monday in support of former Catalan President, Artur Mas, on his way to the Barcelona’s High Court. Mas faces trial for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence to take place in 2014. Mas could face a 10-year ban from public office for putting out the ballot boxes and he is accused, together with former Catalan Ministers Irene Rigau and Joana Ortega, of “disobedience” and “breach of trust” as the Public Prosecutor believes that Mas, Ortega and Rigau “were fully aware” that by preparing the non-binding consultation “they were breaking the mandatory rulings of the Spanish Constitutional Court”.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, gave an institutional speech this Monday before former Catalan President, Artur Mas, former vice-president, Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau faced trial for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. “Many of us feel on trial today and thus we will show our outrage”, said Puigdemont and added that he considered the 9-N non-binding consultation “one of the many messages which Catalonia has sent” to the Spanish state and described it as “a joyful day with a strong democratic component, and which was full of hope”. “A country which is able to hold a consultation such as the 9-N has a healthier democracy than that of a country which puts on trial those who made it possible”, he stated. Hundreds of people expressed their support for those whom have been summonsed before Catalan Government headquarters, at Barcelona’s Plaça Sant Jaume.

Former Catalan President, Artur Mas, will have to testify before Barcelona’s High Court on Monday along with former vice-president Joana Ortega and former education minister Irene Rigau for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. In several appearances before the press this past Sunday, Mas insisted that he has “nothing to apologise for” and that the three whom have been summonsed face the trial “calmly and in good spirit” but also “moved and grateful for the people’s support”. “They wanted us on our knees, but they will find us standing”, he said. “It is a shameful trial, it is absolutely against democracy”, he said and pointed out that the “success of the 9-N and its high turnout” is what drove the case to the court. Mas, Ortega and Rigau are accused of criminal disobedience and breach of trust for holding the non-binding referendum and could receive a 10-year ban on holding public office if convicted.

The main pro-independence civil society organisations in Catalonia, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM) have called for mobilisation once again. Under the motto ‘Love Democracy’ the associations aim to show the citizens’ support for former Catalan President, Artur Mas, who faces trial next Monday for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014, together with former Catalan Ministers Joana Ortega and Irene Rigau. So far, nearly 30,000 people have joined the initiative and are expected to fill Barcelona’s Lluís Companys Avenue, where Catalonia’s Supreme Court is located and where the summonsed will have to testify for alleged disobedience and perversion of justice. 

The Catalan Department for Foreign Affairs, International Relations and Transparency will promote a seminar to share the main experiences of participative democracy worldwide. The initiative will start on the 9^th of March at Barcelona’s Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB) and will consist of eight sessions focused on the constitutive process which took place in Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile. According to the Department, the aim of these sessions is to share recent experiences which took place in different countries in Europe and Latin America where citizen participation was not only innovative but key in the elaboration of new constitutions. The seminar will include the presence of international professors and experts in this field.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, officially announced the referendum to the consuls in Barcelona. Before 60 international representatives based in the Catalan capital, Puigdemont emphasised this Wednesday the Government’s “determination” to hold the referendum and assured that “the threats” of the Spanish State won’t change its will. According to Puigdemont, the referendum will take place “in September at the latest” and it will have all the “democratic and legal guarantees”. Joined by the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, and the chairwoman of the consular corps in Barcelona, Peru’s consul Franca Lorella, Puigdemont insisted that the Government “will always bid for reaching an agreement with the Spanish State” to hold the referendum and emphasised its will for “permanent dialogue”. 

The Catalan Government does not exclude the possibility of organising an independence referendum before September 2017, the date initially signalled by President Carles Puigdemont, if “circumstances” make this option the most “convenient”. That is according to the Presidency Minister and Spokeswoman of the Government, Neus Munté, who nonetheless stressed that the date of the vote should allow enough time to organise it properly. Munté did not specify, however, under which circumstances the Catalan Government would try to move forward the referendum. The Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said that the date of the vote does not matter as a referendum will “always be against the Constitution”.

The European Union has a role to play in resolving the current stalemate in Catalonia, according to some of the MEPs that attended on Tuesday the Catalan President’s talk in the European Parliament. “This is a European issue, I have no doubt about that. Maybe some people are in denial”, said Social Democrat MEP from Portugal Ana Gomes. The Catalan request for a referendum on independence is “reasonable”, added the Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy, who was also in attendance at the conference. According to Renate Weber, a Liberal MEP from Romania, the issue should be solved through a democratic dialogue because, otherwise, “the international role will play a role”. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and now MEP in Brussels, Ivo Vajgl, said that the idea of explaining the Catalan Government plans in the European Parliament was “excellent” because Europe needs information on the issue.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, urged the European Union to “be part of the solution” to the Catalan situation and engage in a conflict that has now become “a European problem”. In a packed room in the European Parliament on Tuesday evening, Puigdemont said that Catalonia will celebrate a referendum on independence this year even if the Spanish government refuses to acknowledge it. The Catalan president highlighted the judicial process against pro-independence politicians and the “intransigence” of the Spanish executive, which has so far refused all Catalan calls to discuss the issue of an independence referendum. “About 80% of Catalans are in favour of calling a referendum, regardless of what their vote would be”, said Puigdemont, adding that a vote has been “a constant request” by Catalonia in recent years. “The issue at stake is not independence but democracy”, he warned.

Catalonia is seeking an agreement with Spain to celebrate an independence referendum but if Madrid continues to refuse to negotiate, the vote will go ahead anyway in 2017. This is the message that the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, will send to the European Parliament in a conference on Tuesday evening that is expected to be attended by about 300 people, including MEPs, international journalists and diplomats. Puigdemont will be accompanied by his two most senior ministers: Vice President Oriol Junqueras and Minister of Foreign Affairs Raül Romeva, both former MEPs and both in charge of organising the referendum. The talk has caused a stir amongst Spanish unionist MEPs, who have urged their colleagues to avoid it. The leader of the Spanish People’s Party in the European Parliament, Esteban González Pons, wrote to all his Brussels colleagues saying that the referendum plans are “an unconstitutional act, which goes not only against Spain, but also against the deepest principles and values of the EU”. Puigdemont, said on Twitter that the so-called “dialogue operation” of the Spanish Government with Catalonia “has already arrived in Brussels”. In an ironic remark following González-Pons’ letter, the Catalan President regretted the Spanish People’s Party (PP) stance on the issue.

The Spanish People’s Party (PP) attacked on Monday the talk to be given by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, in the European Parliament, saying it is going to be unsuccessful. The leader of the PP group in Brussels, Esteban González Pons, who has written to all his party colleagues asking them to avoid the event, said that the talk is only being held in a room inside the EP because three MEPs have “rented” it. “They have rented a room in the European Parliament, as they could have done with a bar or a cafeteria”, he said a day before the address. González Pons admitted that the room, the biggest in the building, may well be full of people on Tuesday evening, but only “Green MEPs, extreme-left MEPs” or even “extreme-right MEPs” will attend, he said. In fact, the conservative politician added that the Catalan referendum, which has the support of 80% of people in Catalonia, is seen in Brussels as a “Spanish Brexit”. In a letter sent to all deputies, Swedish Green MEP Bodil Valero regretted the Spanish government efforts to boycott the event. The talk is organised by Catalan MEPs Ramon Tremosa (ALDE), Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA) and Josep-Maria Terricabras (Greens/EFA). Other Catalan MEPs such as Francesc Gambús (EPP) and Ernest Urtasun (Greens) will also attend.

The judicial process against Catalan politicians that helped to organise the non-binding consultation on independence on the 9th of November 2014 continues. The former Catalan Government spokesman and MP for the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDECAT) will definitely face trial after Spanish Supreme Court judge Andrés Palomo del Arco decided on Friday to start an oral case against him for alleged disobedience and administrative perversion. The Spanish public prosecutor wants Homs banned from office for a period of 9 years. The judge describes in his decision the events presented by the prosecution and says that they justify the start of trial. Former Catalan President Artur Mas, former Vicepresident Joana Ortega and former minister Irene Rigau are also facing trial for the same reason, although their case is being heard in the Catalan Supreme Court. Homs is facing the Spanish Supreme Court because he is currently a member of the Spanish Congress