Pro-independence group to challenge MPs suspension in Constitutional Court

A pro-independence grassroots group is taking to the Constitutional Court the suspension of six members of the Catalan parliament, including former president Carles Puigdemont, for having helped organize a referendum on independence a year ago.  

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), one of Catalonia’s main civil society organizations, hopes to take the case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee once the legal options have been exhausted in Spain.

Speaking at the European Parliament, ANC president Elisenda Paluzie said the suspension of the pro-independence MPs was a "blatant violation" of their political rights, as well as of those of the people who voted for them.

Puigdemont, exiled in Belgium, as well as five other pro-independence MPs, all in jail, are accused of rebellion for defying Spanish courts’ rulings and declaring independence following a vote deemed as illegal.

"Meddling" of Spanish courts

Paluzie urged pro-independence parties "not to accept the meddling" of Spanish courts, as it "doesn’t respect the sovereignty of the Catalan parliament."

Since pro-independence parties held on to a parliamentary majority in an election last December, Spanish courts have played an increasingly crucial role in Catalan politics. Last January, they banned Puigdemont—the most voted candidate among pro-independence parties—from being sworn in as president from abroad.

On Tuesday, the suspension of the MPs, and Puigdemont’s party’s unwillingness to substitute them, left pro-independence parties without a majority in the chamber.