Senior Esquerra politicians sent to trial for disobedience relating to 2017 independence vote

Senior Esquerra politicians have been sent to trial by the Catalan High Court (TSJC) for disobedience relating to the 2017 independence referendum.

The politicians, all of which were economy department officials at the time of the vote, include current Catalan culture minister Natàlia Garriga, as well as MPs Josep Maria Jové and Lluís Salvadó.

Garriga has been charged with serious disobedience of judicial authorities, while Jové and Salvadó have been accused of disobedience, breach of official duty, misuse of public funds, and revealing secrets. 

The judge investigating the case believes that the culture minister helped find and renovate the site of what was to become a call center for election-related queries, including the 2017 referendum deemed illegal by Spain. Garriga is alleged to have awarded four €17,000 contracts for renovations that were done to the building. All in all, the work cost €1.2m plus VAT. 

Garriga has also been accused of procuring warehouses to store referendum-related material.

Jové and Salvadó, meanwhile, have been accused of breaching official duty for allegedly obtaining electoral census information from the Idescat statistics institute and of misuse of public funds for having been in charge of Catalan government expenditure. 

Supreme Court upholds Solé's disqualification

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday to uphold the 1-year disqualification of Bernat Solé for disobedience also dating back to the 2017 push for independence. 

The former mayor of the town of Agramunt, in western Catalonia, and current Catalan government delegate to Lleida, will be barred from office for a year and will have to pay a €16,800 fine. 

The politician reacted by doubling down on his belief that "people should be able to decide their future by voting."

Solé had been found guilty by the High Court in January 2021, but appealed his sentence before the Supreme Court.