Former culture minister faces trial in absentia over Sixena artworks

Former culture minister Lluís Puig is facing trial by the Catalan High Court (TSJC) on Thursday and Friday, accused of disobedience for not returning 44 artworks to the Sixena Monastery in Aragon during the independence push of 2017. 

The court decided on Thursday morning to try Puig in absentia. Puig has lived in exile in Belgium since the 2017 independence push but issues with the court there meant he could not appear via videoconference.

Several officials from the Department of Culture in 2017 testified on Thursday that Puig wanted to comply with the court order to transfer the works to the Aragonese monastery but wanted to study the "complexity" of the legal situation of the assets in depth beforehand.

Until his dismissal, he did not receive any other request.

The prosecutor, meanwhile, maintains that Puig had no intention of returning the artworks.

They stated that the works would "probably" have remained in Lleida had Catalonia's sovereignty not been revoked in the wake of the independence push in late 2017.

Puig's lawyer assured that Puig clearly showed a "willingness" to comply with the resolution, but asked for time to study the "complex" issue.

The case

Spain's Guardia Civil seized the items from the Lleida Diocesan Museum in December 2017, when Catalonia was under direct rule from Madrid under article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, invoked after Catalonia held an independence referendum deemed illegal by Spain. 

The prosecutor is asking for a fine of nearly €6,000 for Puig, who will testify by videoconference, and for his predecessor Santi Vila, who will be tried in Barcelona in May. 

Acting as a private prosecutor, Vilanova de Sixena town council is seeking a €99,000 fine and two years disqualification from public office for Puig. For Vila, it is requesting 11 months in prison and a fine of €162,000, due to the additional charge of usurping judicial powers. 

Puig, an MP for pro-independence Junts, has been living in exile since the 2017 independence push. His trial was able to proceed in absentia, as the requested penalty is under two years in prison, which means the defendant doesn't need to attend the hearing. 

The head of the court, Jesús María Barrientos, said they "cannot remain on standby waiting for Belgian legislation to allow [Puig's] statement by videoconference," especially taking into account the time that has passed since the events in question.

He reminded the court that Puig had been personally summoned for the trial and had already been warned that he could be tried in absentia.

Vila was scheduled to testify as a witness and as a co-accused, as his trial is pending, but refused to do so.

Seven additional witnesses, including police officers and an expert, will also testify. Closing statements from the prosecutors and defense are expected on Friday. 

Case transferred to Catalan High Court

Initially, Huesca court in Aragon set bail at €216,000 for Vila and €88,000 for Puig.

However, when Puig became a member of the Catalan parliament in February 2021, the case was transferred to the Catalan High Court.

The court annulled all judicial proceedings against him from December 2019 onwards and reduced the bail to €17,250, as Puig's defense and the Constitutional Court considered it excessive and a form of premature punishment.

The €17,250 corresponds to what the Aragonese government claims was the cost of returning the 44 pieces to Sixena. 

The Sixena dispute

The Cistercian convent of Santa Maria de Sixena was looted during the Spanish Civil War, but some works were rescued and ended up in Catalonia, as the convent was part of the Catalan Diocese of Lleida at the time.

Some frescoes remain at the MNAC in Barcelona, and 44 pieces were exhibited at Lleida's diocesan museum.

During Franco's regime, parishes in Catalan-speaking parts of Aragon were separated from the Diocese of Lleida to join the new Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón.

With the return of democracy to Spain, the Catalan government acquired and cataloged the works, but their Aragonese counterparts demanded their return. The courts ordered the return of the cataloged works to Sixena.

Former culture minister Vila opposed the return, and Puig, who took over as minister in early July 2017, also failed to order their return.

Despite appeals and opposition from the Catalan government, Spain's Guardia Civil entered the Lleida museum on the morning of December 11, 2017, carrying out the judicial order by force.

At that time, Catalonia was in disarray, with no interim government after Spain's application of Article 155, which had imposed direct rule, sacked the government, and called elections for late December 2017.