Spanish judge turns down appeal by jailed MPs to attend Parliament

The Spanish Supreme Court on Monday turned down the appeals by two pro-independence MPs to be allowed out of prison in order to attend Tuesday’s debate to choose a new president in the Catalan Parliament.

The head of the Esquerra Republicana party, Oriol Junqueras, and the second candidate on the Together for Catalonia ticket, Jordi Sànchez, were both elected MPs in the December 21 election, but are in preventive custody charged with sedition and rebellion for their part in Catalonia’s push for independence.

Junqueras was dismissed by the Spanish government as Catalan vice president following a declaration of independence on October 27. Sànchez, the former president of the grassroots Catalan National Assembly, was elected on Monday as president of the Together for Catalonia ticket in Parliament.

Junqueras and Sànchez, along with former Catalan Home Affairs minister Joaquim Forn, who has since stepped down as an MP, made their appeal following the same court’s ruling on January 12, refusing them permission to attend the Catalan Parliament.

According to the Supreme Court judge at the time, the legal situation of the MPs disallowed them from taking part in parliamentary debates or votes, despite them being elected MPs. However, the judge did give the parliament bureau permission to find a way for them to vote by proxy.

Court demands "immediate" handover of emails

Also on Monday, the same judge demanded the Catalan government’s Telecommunications and Information Technology Center to “immediately” provide the court with all messages relating to the email addresses of 32 people under investigation for the events of October 1, when a referendum on the independence of Catalonia was held in defiance of a court order ruling it illegal.