Catalonia’s Public Prosecutor accuses Forcadell of “wrecking Spain”

Barcelona (CNA).- Catalonia’s Public Prosecutor, José María Romero de Tejada filed the complaint requested by Spain’s Public Prosecutor, Consuelo Madrigal, against Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell. In the lawsuit presented this Wednesday before Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC) de Tejada stated that Forcadell “despised and opposed the Spanish Constitution” by allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote last July and that she “openly disobeyed the authority” by ignoring the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) warnings. According to de Tejada’s complaint, Forcadell was fully aware that she was “promoting an unconstitutional procedure, based on an absolute lack of competence” and accuses her of “deliberately modifying the electoral mandate” that emerged from the 27-S elections, which led to a pro-independence majority in the Catalan Chamber.

Catalonia’s Public Prosecutor considered that the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) made “clear warnings” to Forcadell regarding her “direct opposition” to the TC’s rulings and being “fully aware of its content”. The complaint also accuses the Parliament’s President of unfulfilling the TC’s rulings through “fait accompli” and doing so with “absolute contempt and in flagrant contradiction with the Spanish Constitution”. According to de Tejada, Forcadell “openly disobeyed the authority” by ignoring the TC rulings and tried to “wreck” not only the territorial model established in the Constitution but also the “distribution of competences”.

The complaint also established that by allowing the conclusions of the Committee to Study the Constitutive Process to be put to vote, Forcadell “promoted an unconstitutional procedure, based on an absolute lack of competence”. This action, which is described as “extravagant” in the lawsuit gave the green light to the pro-independence roadmap. However, de Tejada accuses the Parliament’s President of “deliberately modifying the electoral mandate” that emerged from the 27-S elections, which led to a pro-independence majority in the Catalan Chamber.

The lawsuit presented by Catalonia’s Public Prosecutor lays out in chronological order the facts which led to Forcadell’s criminal liability. Now the ball is in the TSJC’s court, which will have to decide in the coming days whether to proceed with the lawsuit. 

Forcadell: “I did what I had to do”

Parliament’s President responded to Catalonia’s Public Prosecutor’s accusations of her “wrecking Spain”. “Wrecking the state is allowing corruption, suspending laws oriented toward avoiding evictions and in favour of equality and fighting energy poverty, and restricting the freedom of speech and MPs’ right of initiative”. “The Spanish state should look into itself, look at the corruption and those laws oriented toward helping citizens which have been suspended”, she emphasised, rather than accusing the Parliament “whose function is to debate on those topics which concern the citizens”.

Forcadell assured that she is “calm” and committed “to doing all the tasks ahead”. “I did what I had to do”, she said and dismissed any possibility whatsoever of being banned from public office. “I don’t consider it because it would be so grave that I don’t even consider it”.