Puigdemont asks Catalan Parliament to protect his right to be reinstated as president

Carles Puigdemont asked the Catalan Parliament president Roger Torrent to take “whatever measures necessary” to “protect the rights” of the chamber, referencing the Spanish Constitutional Court banning Puigdemont from being sworn in at a distance from Brussels, and urging him to return to the country, turn himself in,  and then ask for a judicial authorization to attend the chamber.

In a letter sent on Monday morning, Pugidemont alleged that the Spanish government and the judiciary have been moving to block his right to act as an MP, as well as his right to be reinstated as president.

The pro-independence leader alludes to the Catalan Parliament rules (article 4), which grant him the right to attend the chamber debates and votes, along with Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy (article 57) and the chamber’s rules (article 22), which state that an MP can only be arrested if accused of “a flagrant crime.”

Puigdemont faces criminal charges for his role in the declaration of independence on October 27. He and all his ministers were dismissed by the Spanish government, which imposed direct rule in the region. Puigdemont traveled to Belgium alleging he did not trust the Spanish justice system, and has remained there ever since.

Puigdemont, "far" from asking for the judicial authorization

Josep Rull, one of Puigdemont’s ministers, said on Sunday that he was planning to contact the Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena to be green-lighted to attend the investiture debate, in what was seen as an attempt to follow the path set by the Constitutional Court ruling. Yet, Puigdemont’s lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, said on Monday that his defendant, in turn, was “far” from asking for the aforementioned judicial authorization.