Los Sres. Puigdemont (MEP), Ponsatí (MEP) i Comín (MEP) demandan al Parlamento Europeo, por ocho motivos (18 MAY 2021)

Ha sido comentado una decisión del Tribunal General de la UE, maliciosamente mal interpretada por la prensa española. He aquí los motivos de la demanda inicial.

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What strings have Spanish officials pulled to try and influence judgments of European courts? The author, Xavier X. Domènech, has authorized this translation (15 JUN 2021)

What if European courts rule that Spanish courts have reached judgments that violate international treaties and universal human rights? What strings have Spanish officials pulled to try and influence these judgments? Xavier F. Domènech has authorized this translation (by M. Strubell) of his thread on the subject.

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An article by Quico Sallés on Pres. Puigdemont's 2018 arrest in Germany (2 MAY 2021)

An article by Quico Sallés, on the Spanish secret service's involvement in the capture of President Puigdemont in Germany, on charges of "rebellion, terrorism and homicide [sic]". The German court later refused his extradition. The author has kindly authorized the publication of this English translation.

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IL EST TEMPS DE DÉFENDRE LES VALEURS DE L'UE (FR)

IL EST TEMPS DE DÉFENDRE LES VALEURS DE L'UE

Nous avons récemment pris connaissance des violations de l'État de droit en Pologne et en Hongrie et de leurs tentatives de réduire le budget de l'UE, ainsi que de l'engagement de l'UE à appliquer les mêmes critères à tous les États membres lorsqu'il s'agit de non-respect de l'État de droit. Cependant, l'Espagne n'a pas été montrée du doigt, ceci pour deux raisons : grâce à la censure du Parlement européen sur le rapport de la députée européenne Clare Daly concernant les droits fondamentaux dans l'Union et aussi grâce à la position des hauts fonctionnaires et diplomates de l'UE qui ont réussi à faire passer avec force narrative la version imposée par l'Espagne sur le conflit avec la Catalogne.

 

Cependant, l'arrêt de la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne selon lequel l'ancien vice-président de la Catalogne Oriol Junqueras bénéficiait de droits d'immunité accordés par son élection en tant que député européen a été totalement ignoré par les autorités espagnoles, et il purge une peine de 13 ans de prison.

En 2018, un activiste social a été arrêté pour avoir appelé à participer à une manifestation et accusé de terrorisme. Cependant, deux ans plus tard, après des mois d'emprisonnement dans sa propre ville, un tribunal de Barcelone a abandonné toutes les accusations.

En 2019, l'ancien ministre de l'intérieur catalan (ainsi que d'autres collègues et dirigeants sociaux) a été condamné à plus de dix ans de prison, pour avoir contrôlé la police catalane lors de la "sédition" de 2017. Cependant, le chef de la police et les hauts fonctionnaires du ministère ont récemment été jugés, par un autre tribunal, non coupables de tout acte répréhensible durant ces événements.

Les appels à la libération immédiate des prisonniers politiques, lancés par le groupe de travail des Nations unies sur la détention arbitraire, Amnesty International et des associations juridiques, ont été ignorés par l'État espagnol.

En 2020, un tribunal espagnol a secoué la politique catalane en destituant le président de la Catalogne pour ne pas avoir immédiatement "obéi" à un avis du conseil électoral lui ordonnant de retirer deux banderoles appelant à la libération des prisonniers politiques catalans et à la liberté d'expression.

Et récemment, une cour d'appel belge a refusé l'extradition vers l'Espagne de l'ancien ministre de la culture de Catalogne, en raison de sérieux doutes quant à la garantie de son droit à un procès équitable.

Tout cela n'est que la partie émergée de l'iceberg. C'est l'absence de garantie d'un procès équitable, pour des actes qui ne sont pas des crimes dans d'autres pays européens, qui fait que six hommes politiques catalans et plusieurs militants vivent en exil en Belgique, en Suisse et en Écosse. C'est une situation choquante, et beaucoup en Catalogne se plaignent de la passivité totale des institutions européennes, par rapport à leur position publique sur les événements qui se déroulent, par exemple, en Russie, en Turquie et en Biélorussie.

C'est dans ce contexte que le Parlement européen se prononcera prochainement sur la demande de l'Espagne de lever l'immunité parlementaire de trois députés : l'ancien président Carles Puigdemont et ses conseillers Antoni Comin et Clara Ponsatí.

Miquel Strubell

TIME TO STAND UP FOR EU VALUES (EN)

TIME TO STAND UP FOR EU VALUES

We recently read about violations of the rule of law in Poland and Hungary and their attempts to hold up the EU budget, and about the EU's commitment to applying the same yardstick as regards non-compliance with the rule of law in all member States. However, Spain has been kept out of the public eye, thanks to EP censorship in the report by Clare Daly MEP on fundamental rights in the Union, and to high-ranking officials in the EU and diplomats who have managed to powerfully transmit Spain’s own narrative.

However, the European Union Court of Justice ruling that Catalonia’s former vice president Oriol Junqueras enjoyed the rights of immunity that his election as an MEP granted him was totally ignored by the Spanish authorities and he is serving a 13-year prison term.

In 2018 a social activist was arrested for calling for participation in a demonstration and charged with terrorism. Yet two years later, after months of confinement to her own town, a Barcelona court dropped all charges.

In 2019 the former Catalan minister of the Interior (along with other colleagues and social leaders) was sentenced to over ten years in prison, for having controlled the Catalan police during the 2017 «sedition». Yet both the police chief and top ministry officials were recently found not guilty of any misdemeanour during those events by another court. The public prosecutor did not appeal 

Calls for the immediate release of the political prisoners, issued by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Amnesty International and a host of legal associations, have been ignored by Spain’s vindictive structures.

In 2020, the Spanish court tossed Catalan politics into turmoil by barring Quim Torra the President of Catalonia from public office, for not immediately “obeying” an election board notification that ordered him to remove two banners calling for the freeing of the Catalan political prisoners and in favour of the freedom of speech.

And recently, a Belgian court of appeal denied the extradition of Catalonia's former Minister of Culture to Spain, given serious doubts about his possibility to enjoy the right to a fair trial.

All this is just the tip of the iceberg. It is the lack of assurance of a fair trial, for deeds that are not offences in other European countries, that has six Catalan politicians and several activists living in exile in Belgium, Switzerland and Scotland. This is a shocking situation, and many in Catalonia complain of the total passivity of the European institutions, compared to their public stance on events in, say, Russia, Turkey and Byelorussia.

This is the context of the European Parliament forthcoming vote on Spain's request for the waiver of three members’ parliamentary immunity: former President Carles Puigdemont and his ministers Antoni Comin and Clara Ponsatí.

Michael Strubell

ES HORA DE DEFENDER LOS VALORES DE LA UE (ESP)

ES HORA DE DEFENDER LOS VALORES DE LA UE

Recientemente hemos leído sobre las violaciones del Estado de Derecho en Polonia y Hungría y sus intentos de frenar el presupuesto de la UE, y sobre el compromiso de la UE de aplicar la misma vara de medir a todos los Estados miembros en cuanto al incumplimiento del Estado de Derecho. Sin embargo, España no ha sido señalada, gracias a la censura del Parlamento Europeo sobre el informe de la eurodiputada Clare Daly sobre los derechos fundamentales en la Unión y también gracias a la posición de los altos funcionarios de la UE y diplomáticos que han conseguido transmitir con fuerza la narrativa que quiere imponer España sobre lo que sucede con Cataluña.

Sin embargo, la sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea por la que el exvicepresidente de Cataluña Oriol Junqueras gozaba de los derechos de inmunidad que le otorgaba su elección como eurodiputado fue totalmente ignorada por las autoridades españolas y está cumpliendo una condena de 13 años de prisión.

En 2018 una activista social fue detenida por llamar a la participación en una manifestación y acusada de terrorismo. Sin embargo, dos años después, tras meses de encierro en su propia ciudad, un tribunal de Barcelona retiró todos los cargos.

En 2019 el exconsejero catalán de Interior (junto a otros compañeros y dirigentes sociales) fue condenado a más de diez años de prisión, por haber controlado a la policía catalana durante la "sedición" de 2017. Sin embargo, tanto el jefe de la policía como los altos cargos del ministerio han sido recientemente declarados, por otro tribunal, no culpables de ninguna ilegalidad durante aquellos sucesos.

Los llamamientos para la liberación inmediata de los presos políticos, emitidos por el Grupo de Trabajo de la ONU sobre la Detención Arbitraria, Amnistía Internacional y asociaciones legales, han sido ignorados por el Estado español.

En 2020, un tribunal español sacudió la política catalana al inhabilitar al presidente de Cataluña por no "obedecer" inmediatamente una notificación de la junta electoral que le ordenaba retirar dos pancartas que pedían la liberación de los presos políticos catalanes y a favor de la libertad de expresión.

Y recientemente, un tribunal de apelación belga denegó la extradición a España del ex consejero de Cultura de Cataluña, ante las serias dudas sobre la posibilidad que fuera garantizado su derecho a un juicio justo.

Todo esto es sólo la punta del iceberg. Es la falta de garantía de un juicio justo, por hechos que no son delito en otros países europeos, lo que tiene a seis políticos catalanes y a varios activistas viviendo en el exilio en Bélgica, Suiza y Escocia. Es una situación chocante, y muchos en Cataluña se quejan de la total pasividad de las instituciones europeas, en comparación con su postura pública ante los acontecimientos de, por ejemplo, Rusia, Turquía y Bielorrusia.

Este es el contexto de la próxima votación del Parlamento Europeo sobre el suplicatorio de España de suspensión de la inmunidad parlamentaria de tres diputados: el ex presidente Carles Puigdemont y sus consejeros Antoni Comin y Clara Ponsatí.

Miquel Strubell i Trueta

What Would You Do, Dear MEP?

What would you do? Imagine that the fate of three God-fearing, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens is in your hands. A university lecturer in Social Science, a university professor of Economics and a journalist and former mayor of a provincial capital, to be precise. 

And you have people screaming at you from both sides.

 

A large group on the one hand, all from a large nation with a history of civil wars, coups d'état and dictatorships, and with its media, opinion leaders, politicians almost to a man (and woman) shrieking hysterically that these three have fled justice after a coup d'érat and have to join their political companions and serve long prison sentences for their crimes. And their MEPs swarm around you, drilling instructions into the ears of the leaders of your political group and, maybe, you in person. And in the process, some of them have not respected the confidentiality rule but have made public statements or even, in one case, leaked the rapporteur's report to the Madrid press.  

And on the other side, a much smaller group (largely because their nation is much smaller) who have neen imploring for international mediation to force the bully to sit down and solve a deep political conflict through political negotiation, not by sending its political opponents into court.

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that it has ignored multiple calls, after an institutionally catastrophic Constitutional court judgment, for the exercise of the smaller people's universal right of self-determination. 

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that it has incarcerated the smaller people's parliamentary Speaker for allowing a debate on independence.

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that it has incarcerated two respected social leaders, for standing (with permission) on a battered police vehicle - parked unlocked and with fireaarms left inside it - to call on ten thousand demonstrators to... go home. 

Imagine the larger group says that holding a referendum without government authorisation is illegal, yet fails to tell you that this was dropped ftom the Criminal Code in 2005.

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that calls for the release of these political and social leaders, issued by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Amnesty International and a host of other humsn rights organizations, have fallen on the deaf ears of a Member state bent on political revenge and on "decapitating" the independence movement and "disinfecting" the smaller people.

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that attempts to extradite the three MEPs and their colleagues have failed because courts in Belgium, Germany and Scotland have failed to find any evidence of the charges of "rebellion" and "sedition" brought against them, issued, moreover, by a court that, according to the European convention on human rights, was not the competent court to try them and their incarcerated colleagues in the first place. 

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that the Spanish Supreme Court has ignored an EU Court of Justice ruling (requested by the very same Court!) ensuring another MEP's immunity, by the simple, age-old expedient of not releasing him ftom prison.

Imagine the larger group fails to tell you that it flooded the JURI committee (20% of its members are Spanish!), solely and simply to continue persecuting those who have thd perfectly legitimate aim of a national minority that wishes to continue existing as a free and sovereign people.

Imagine (well, this is no hypothesis) that you, dear MEP, will have to explain, to the hundreds of thousands of Europeans you represent, how you publicly voted in the plenary session to decide whether or not to waive the immunity, inside the European Union, of Carles Puigdemont MEP, Antoni Comin MEP and Clara Ponsatí MEP.  

I am sure you will vote in conscience, so as not to allow the European Parliament to make a fool of itself on the international scene (the Commission has a vice president that does this on his own), and that you will not be bullied in your turn.

See also in Catalan:

https://twitter.com/nstr30/status/1364681312372727817?s=19

 

An article by Josep Casulleras on impact on Spain of Belgium Court of Appeal ruling (9 JAN 2021)

This article is on the dire dilemma Spain faces given the Belgium Court of Appeal ruling on Lluís Puig, which affects not only all exiles, but - unless the Court is stone deaf - all those convicted in the Independence process trial. This English translation (by M.S.) is published with the author's permission.

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Please stand up for EU values

Here is the full text of the letter I have sent to members of the EP Commission on Legal Affairs ("JURI") regarding the requests for waiver of the immunity of three Catalan MEPs, whose freedom of movement throughout the EU has nevertheless been guaranteed by High Court decisions in Germany and Belgium. 

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Letter to the Financial Times about fundamental rights and the Catalans (8 JAN 2021)

 This is the text I have sent as a Letter to the Editor of the Financial Times, with copies to the authors of an article, "EU identity crisis: Poland, Hungary and the fight over Brussels’ values" about the blind eye the European institutions are still turning as regards Spain. 

Click , if need be, to read the text (ewith hyperlinks added here).

An article by Rt. Hon. Carles Puigdemont on relations with Spain (6 DEC 2020)

The 130th president of Catalonia, Rt. Hon. Carles Puigdemont, has written an important article on Catalonia's relations with Spain. I trust the author will authorize this English translation.

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Article by Marta Lasalas "Puigdemont's immunity waiver request..." (15 Nov 2020)

An English rendering (by MS) of the article. The author has given me permission to publish it.

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"La lluita a l'exili", de Carles Puigdemont (extractes)

Extractes del llibre de Carles Puigdemont i Xevi Xirgo "La lluita a l'exili" (2020) 

Clica aquí si cal per accedir al text sencer

The floundering of Spain's judicial strategy, by Carles Puigdemont et al (16 August 2020)

This is an English rendering (by MS, with improvements by MT: thanks) of an article published in La Vanguardia by exiled Catalan leaders Carles Puigdemont, Clara Ponsatí, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig. If they have any objection, I shall delete it at once.

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Conversation between PM Rajoy and Catalan President Puigdemont

An extract from a recently launched book by Rt. Hon. Carles Puigdemont, 130th president of Catalonia.

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Judge Llarena rejects EAW request (22 JAN 2018)

COURT RULING. Judge Llarena turned down the public prosecutor's request to issue a second European Arrest Warrant when the exiled President Puigdemont announced (while intending to be invested as president of Catalonia for a second term) he was to give a lecture in Denmark. The reasoning is bizarre!
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Article by Thomas Harrington on the EU dimension of the Catalans' struggle to achieve statehood (23 JAN 2020)

I recommend this article to anyone interested in the Catalonia-Spain conflict,
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Article by Dave Evans, "The Rule of Lawfare" (15 JAN 2020)

Here is the link to an article by Dave Evans, "The Rule of Lawfare", which describes the Catalan independence's international strategy.

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Letter by C. Puigdemont MEP and T. Comin MEP to colleagues (15 JAN 2020)

Here is the text of the letter sent by two of the three Catalan MEPs who, as such, enjoy immunity. The third, Oriol Junqueras, has not been let out of prison by the Spanish authorities. Moreover they are trying to strip him of the European Parliament seat he won last May.
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Articles by Pere Borràs and Prof. Pérez Royo on recent Supreme Court decisions (English, 10 JAN 2020)

According to both Pere Borràs and Prof. Pérez Royo, the Supreme Court's decision removing Oriol Junqueras' status as an MEP may well backfire in its face. Here are English translations of the two articles (I hope they and the website don't mind).
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