Spain’s Guardia Civil enters Catalan Parliament in relation to corruption case

Police officers from Spain’s Guardia Civil entered the Catalan Parliament and Catalan Government buildings on Thursday to gather information on former Minister of Justice Germà Gordó. The former CDC party member is currently being investigated for alleged influence peddling, perverting the course of justice, misuse of public funds and accepting bribes.

The operation is part of an ongoing investigation into alleged irregular funding of the CDC party, to find out whether companies paid commission to the CDC foundation in exchange for public contracts.

The party, which governed Catalonia for nearly 30 years, was disbanded on July 8, 2016 following a series of corruption scandals, including that of former Catalan president and CDC-founder, Jordi Pujol. The party was subsequently rebranded as PDeCAT, now the major partner in the pro-independence Junts pel Sí (Together for the Yes) coalition currently in government.

The officers entered the Parliament demanding Gordó’s emails. There were eight officers in total, plus the anti-corruption attorney in charge of the investigation, José Grinda. Gordó is expected to testify in front of the Catalan High Court (TSJC) on July 24.

Guardia Civil officers also tried to enter the Catalan government headquarters, but Minister of the Presidency Jordi Turull refused to allow them in, government officials said. The officers requested the guestbook and a list of the administrative support Gordó had during his time as Secretary of the Government (2011-2013). They left after they were told the information would be provided.

Meanwhile, another group of Guardia Civil officers entered the Ministry of Justice and the Center of Telecommunications and Information Technologies (CTTI) and left with a copy of Gordó’s public agenda.

Opposition parties in the Parliament said the Guardia Civil action came as no surprise, and accused CDC (and therefore PDeCAT) of covering up corruption cases.