Vice president proposes having government act as private prosecution in '3%' corruption case

Catalan vice president Pere Aragonès, of left-wing pro-independence Esquerra Republicana party, suggested on Sunday that the government should act as private prosecutor in the '3%' corruption case.

The so-called '3% case' refers to the structure set up to "illegally and covertly" finance the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) party founded by Jordi Pujol, which governed Catalonia almost continuously from 1980 to 2015 until it was refounded in 2016 into PDeCAT.

On Thursday, a Catalan court proposed trying 32 individuals and 16 legal entities for criminal organization, fraud in public administrations, bribery, peddling influence, and money laundering as part of this corruption case.

"If there has been any misuse of public funds, we must get to the bottom of it," Aragonès argued, adding that he would seek consensus among Catalan cabinet members concerning the government's possible role as private prosecutor.