Prosecutor asks about involvement of mayors in independence referendum

The chief prosecutor in Catalonia sent requests to the local authorities of Girona and Mollerussa asking for information about the involvement of their respective mayors in the independence referendum on October 1. Girona mayor Marta Madrenas and Mollerussa mayor Marc Solsona are both MPs for the pro-independence party, Junts per Catalunya.

The letters sent to the Girona and Mollerussa local councils, which are not personally addressed to either Madrenas or Solsona, asked if the city mayors had offered or ordered the use of public local facilities in the referendum. The letter sent to the Mollerussa local authority was dated February 2, while the letter to Girona council was sent on February 26.

Both requests are part of the prosecutor’s criminal investigation that began on September 21 into allegations of disobedience and neglect of duty by local officials. Madrenas appeared in Girona’s high court on September 20 to testify over signing a decree in favor of the referendum, although at the time she had still not been elected an MP.

As for Solsona, he gave testimony on September 19. Yesterday, the mayor said that he used the same arguments in his court appearance that were used to answer the prosecutor’s request, “that voting can never be a crime.” The requests are part of the investigation into 700 mayors in Catalonia that signed decrees in support of the October 1 referendum.