Former MP vows to defend referendum in court

Former MP for the pro-independence CUP party, Mireia Boya, is to give evidence in Spain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday as part of the investigation into allegations of rebellion brought against her. However, Boya remained defiant in a news conference in Lleida on Monday, insisting that she will defend the results of the October 1 independence referendum, as well as her actions as an MP in the Catalan parliament.

Insisting she will not renounce “a single comma” of the party’s manifesto from the election campaign that saw her elected in September 2015, Boya said she will face the court “with head held high.” “We carried out a referendum and we won it,” said Boya, who insisted that the allegations of rebellion are based on police reports that are “partial and self-interested, which create a narrative that has nothing to do with reality because there was no violence.”

With a number of leading political figures in the pro-independence movement already in prison or released on bail, Boya described the possibility of her being detained as “the worst case scenario.” However, she also said that if the judge orders her preventive detention that she would hope for a “political reaction” resulting from a “joint and coordinated strategy” on behalf of all pro-independence parties and supporters.

The Supreme Court judge overseeing the independence case in December expanded the number of people under investigation to include former CUP MP, Anna Gabriel, PDECat party leader, Marta Pascal, and ERC secretary general, Marta Rovira. Also under investigation are former Catalan president, Artur Mas, and former head of the AMI association of municipalities in favor of independence, Neus Lloveras. All are summoned to appear in court over the next few weeks. In total, 28 officials are involved in the independence case.