Pro-independence MP accused of irregular contracts refuses to testify in court

Less than 15 minutes: this is the time senior pro-independence MP in Congress, Laura Borràs, spent at her hearing in Spain's Supreme Court, which is looking into alleged irregular contracts she was behind when at the head of the Institute of Catalan Letters.

The official of the leading party in the Catalan government, Junts per Catalunya, refused to testify in Madrid on Wednesday. "I will never collaborate will injustice," she told the press after the brief session.

She also stated that she would not reply to any cross-examination until a legal expert report is carried out. "When this evidence exists, I will declare with pleasure and I will request to come myself," she expressed.

According to her, she is another victim of the supposed persecution of pro-independence leaders by Spain's judiciary.

Yet, her case is not officially connected to her activities defending the existence of a Catalan state.

Borràs' case

She is accused of breach of official duty, administrative fraud, misuse of public funds, and falsifying documents for allegedly fraudulently selecting a supplier for services worth €259,863.

The charges, which Borràs has firmly denied, date back to the period between 2013 and 2018 when she was at the head of the Institute of Catalan Letters, a public body in charge of promoting Catalan literature.

According to investigators, there are signs that Borràs could have allocated public contracts to a friend and avoided a public tender by splitting the service into various ones not surpassing the minimum threshold over which tenders are obligatory.

Parliamentary immunity lifted

As an MP in Spain’s lower chamber, Borràs would normally enjoy parliamentary immunity, but in late June the members of Congress voted to lift her immunity, paving the way for the Supreme Court to continue the investigation that began half a year earlier.