Berga Mayor arrest outrages Catalan Government, while Spanish Executive assesses it as “normal”

Barcelona (CNA).- The arrest of Montse Venturós, Mayor of Berga, for refusing to take down a pro-independence flag from the town hall building has caused a deluge of reactions this Friday. The Catalan Government, as stated by its spokeswoman, Neus Munté, considered the arrest “outrageous” and more proof of the Spanish Government’s “judicialisation of politics”. “It is an aberration both from a political and democratic perspective”, stated Munté and emphasised that Venturós’ arrest is to be added to a long list of elected representatives who have been summonsed and prosecuted “for too long”. The president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Jordi Sánchez, stressed that any decision from a judge, "as spectacular as it may be", will not “slow down the pro-independence process”. On the other hand, the recently named Spanish Government spokesman, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, described the arrest as “only normal” and warned that “whoever fails to adhere to the rules has to accept the consequences”.

“It is an aberration from a political and democratic perspective to arrest yet another elected representative for defending certain ideas and using her freedom of speech”, stated Munté. “We as a Government condemn this constant judicialisation of politics carried out by the Spanish State and express our support and solidarity not only towards Venturós but to all the elected representatives who have been suffering this kind of prosecution for too long now”, she added.

In a similar vein, Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs lamented “Spain’s systematic prosecution of elected representatives” and considered Venturós’ arrest “another example” of this trend. “There are 401 towns and villages which have pending cases with the Spanish State: the only way to solve a political conflict is through politics and not through the court”, she stated.

Pro-independence radical left CUP MP and Venturós lawyer, Benet Salellas, noted that this case “has to be framed within the growing spiral of repression against the pro-independence movement”. “Public servants who have been elected to comply with the pro-independence mandate are being arrested for trying to fulfil it”, he warned.

Spanish Government considers the arrest “only normal”

“This is the message: In Spain laws have to be adhered to and whoever fails to do so has to accept the consequences”, stated new Spanish Government spokesman, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo. In his first public appearance, de Vigo warned that “sentences are meant to be adhered to in a Rule of Law” and that “it is only normal for the police to guarantee the fulfilling of the law when it has been violated”, it is “what happens in all the countries in Europe”, he emphasised. “We should instead be alarmed by failure to fulfil the law”, he added.

Wide support from pro-independence society organisations 

Representatives of The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and Súmate, an organisation mostly formed of people of Spanish origin living in Catalonia who support independence from Spain, showed their support for Montse Venturós this Friday in front of the Berga Court.

The president of the ANC, Jordi Sánchez, stressed that any decision from a judge, "as spectacular as it may be", "will not slow the process”. “It won’t fatigue nor divide us", he added. For his part, the president of Súmate, Chema Clavero, said that with the arrest of Venturós "Spain has crossed a red line". Similarly, member of the AMI and Mayor of Salient, David Saldoni, said that the arrest of the mayor of Berga is “a new attack on democracy".

The judicialisation of politics, the “underlying issue” behind the arrest

Indeed, Venturós’ arrest is to be added to other examples of political representatives who have recently been summonsed by the Spanish State, such as former Catalan President, Artur Mas, accused of co-organising the 9 N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. Three other former ministers were summonsed for the same reason. More recently, Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, was accused of disobedience for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote last July.

To cap it all off, the reform for the Spanish Constitutional Court to be able to “suspend from office those public servants, politicians and authorities who don’t comply with its rulings” has ultimately been accepted by 8 of the 11 magistrates at the court. To protest against all this judicialisation of politics, a demonstration has been organised by the pro-independence grassroots organisation ANC, scheduled for the 13th of November in Barcelona. 

Controversy over the Catalan police action

The Catalan police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, was responsible for Venturós’ arrest at her house this morning at around 8.00 CET and her detention at Berga’s police station, where she waited to be brought before the judge. The Mayor of Berga referred to the arrest and the privation of freedom for hanging a pro-independence flag as “insulting”. “We obey a popular mandate, we had a very clear popular mandate that said we had to keep the flag on the town hall”, she stated. 

In a similar vein, the pro-independence radical left CUP MP Eulàlia Reguant regretted the fact that the Catalan police decided to accept the request by the Spanish judiciary to detain Venturós. “From the beginning we have asked the Mossos not to respond to these judiciary requests from the Spanish State”, she recalled. Reguant admitted that her party colleagues are “angry and sad” after the arrest, but that they will assess the situation “calmly”. In an interview, CUP MP and Venturós’ lawyer, Benet Salellas, criticised the Catalan Ministry for Home Affairs, which is responsible for the police. He accused the body of obeying an order from the Spanish justice which “is against Catalonia’s pro-independence process”. Salellas also expressed his disapproval of the arrest procedures. “Venturós was arrested while alone at home: the normal procedure would have been to do so during the day and in the Town Hall, so that everyone could see what was going on”, he explained.

In reference to this controversy, Méndez de Vigo stressed that the regional police force is the one “enforcing judicial resolutions”. This is “normal” and “what happens in any European country”, he added. For her part, Neus Munté warned against “divisions” between the pro-independence forces. “We need unity”, she stated and added that the problem is not the Catalan police, who followed a legal request to arrest the Mayor of Berga, but the Spanish state, which is “persecuting” pro-independence politicians.

The Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Jordi Jané, also defended the action of the Catalan police and said that it responded to an order by the Court. "Sometimes we do not focus on who makes the assignment, why or where it is heading" and we “shoot the messenger”, he said metaphorically. When asked if the Mossos would act in the same manner if the order was to arrest the President of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, Jané avoided responding and stated that such a situation would be "absolutely bizarre”.