Sànchez's swearing-in postponed until Human Rights court rules

The Catalan parliament speaker Roger Torrent has decided to postpone Jordi Sànchez's swearing-in as president, expected for Monday next week. Sànchez, a jailed pro-independence leader, is taking a Spanish judge to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for rejecting his request to leave prison in order to be elected. Torrent will hold up the investiture debate until the international court rules on Sànchez's appeal.

Sànchez was the presidential candidate put forward by the main pro-independence parties in Catalonia after failing to reelect Carles Puigdemont as head of the government. Sànchez's candidacy was proposed by Puigdemont after he gave up plans to reclaim the office.

Sànchez faces criminal charges of rebellion for his role in the political roadmap that led to a declaration of independence last October. He has been in prison for almost five months while awaiting trial.

The imprisonment of Sànchez, as well as that of three other Catalan leaders, has been described by Amnesty International as "disproportionate." In an interview with Catalan news, the organization's director for Europe said that the imprisonment of civil society leaders "sends a very scary message." 

Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya party, as well as Esquerra Republicana, were expected to vote for Sànchez on Monday. Yet, the far-left CUP party rejected Sànchez's candidacy, thus breaking the consensus among pro-independence parties.