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.

Click here  if need be to access the whole text.

Letter sent by Clara Ponsatí MEP to the president of the European Parliament (26 FEB 2021)

This letter was sent by Clara Ponsatí MEP to the president of the European Parliament, complaining about serious flaws in the procedure to study the Spanish Supreme Court's request for her parliamentary immunity to be waived.

Click , if need be, to read the text

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

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

 

Letter by Birgitta to German MEPs (translation by M.S.) (16 FEB 2021)

https://twitter.com/BirgittaDE2/status/1361702252478681095?s=19

Reasons for protecting the immunity of Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí 

Ladies and gentlemen, honorable Members of the European Parliament, 

I believe that you should represent the interests of your citizens in the European Parliament.  

The roll-call votes, however, paint a different picture for me, so I really feel better represented by Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí from Catalonia.  

But their immunity is now under scrutiny in the European Parliament.  

As we have all learned from the judgment of a Belgian court in favour of Lluís Puig i Gordi, the Spanish authority issuing the request, the Spanish Supreme Court, is not the competent authority to make such an application. It is not the authority responsible for extraditing Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí and, in my opinion, is not responsible for the application to lift the immunity of these people. If you have all read the minutes of the Venice Commission, it should be clear to you when to vote against immunity from your colleagues.  

Imagine that the government of North Rhine-Westphalia would be partly in exile and imprisonment just because this government held a referendum because they did not agree with the measures from Berlin. Now imagine if the head of government of North Rhine-Westphalia, now in exile, had been elected to the European Parliament through the European elections. If so, would you agree to the waiver of your colleague's immunity?  

How can I trust the European Parliament if it does not guarantee the rights of national minorities in Europe?  

I therefore urge you, the Members of the European Parliament, to evade political group pressure and to vote NO to Spain's motion to waive the immunity of Catalan MEPs Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí.

Thank you very much

...ooo000ooo...

Gründe fur den Schutz der immuniet von Puigdemont, Comín und Ponsatí

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.

Sehr geehrte Mitglieder des Europiiischen Parlaments, nach meiner Auffassung sollten Sie die fnteressen Ihrer Bürger im Europiiischen Parlament vertreten. Die namentlichen Abstimmungen ergeben für mich jedoch ein anderes Bild. so dass ich mich wahrlich besser von Puigdemont, Comin und Ponsati aus Katalonien vertreten fühle. Doch deren lmmuniet steht nun im Europiiischen Parlament auf dem Prüfstand.

Wie wir alle durch das Urteil eines belgischen Gerichts zugunsten LIuis Puig I Bordi erfahren haben, ist die ausschreibende spanische Behiirde, das oberste Gericht Spaniens, nicht die zusEindige Behàrde, einen solchen Antrag zu stellen. So ist sie auch nicht die zusEindige Behörde zur Auslieferung von Puigdemont, Comin und Ponsati und ist meines Erachtens auch nicht zusEindig für den Antrag zur Aufhebung der lmmuniEt dieser Personen. 

Wenn Sie alle das Protokoll der Venedig Kommission gelesen haben, sollte Ihnen klar sein, wann Sie gegen eine lmmunitiit ihrer Kollegen stimmen sollten.

Stellen Sie sich vor, dass die Regierung von NRW zum Teil im Exil und in Gefangenschaft wiire, nur weil diese Regierung ein Referendum abgehalten hiitte, weil sie mit den MaEnahmen aus Berlin nicht einverstanden waren. Stellen Sie sich nun vor, der Regierungschef von NRW, nun im Exil. wiire durch die Europawahl ins Europiiische Parlament gewiihlt worden. Würden Sie in diesem Fall einer Aufhebung der lmmuniEt ihres Kollegen zustimmen? 

Wie soll ich dem Europiiischen Parlament vertrauen. wenn es die Rechte nationaler
Minderheiten in Europa nicht garantiert? 

Daher fordere ich Sie, die Mitglieder'innen des Europiiisches Parlaments, auf, sich dem Fraktionszwang zu entziehen und mit NEIN gegen den Antrag Spaniens auf Aufhebung der lmmunitiit der katalanischen Abgeordneten Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comin und Clara Ponsati zu stimmen. 

Herzlichen Dank

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.

Click , if need be, to read the text

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. 

Click , if need be, to read the full text.

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).

Written observations by Ms Ponsatí MEP (made available 20 NOV 2020)

Here are the "Written observations" made by Ms Clara Ponsatí MEP as regards one aspect of the request for the waiver of her parliamentary immunity.

 Click below  to read the whole post, if need be

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.

Click here  to read the whole post, if need be

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.

Click to read the whole post, if need be.

JEC and Clara Ponsatí MEP

On January 30 2020 the Spanish Electoral Board, while paying lip service to the CJEU sentence on Oriol Junqueras, says that Clara Ponsatí's seat will remain temporarily vacant! How did theEuropean Parliament respond the following day?
Click here  if need be to read the whole post.

Spanish Electoral Board resolution (later quashed) banning Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí from European Parliament election (29 APR 2019)

The Central Electoral Board resolved on April 29 2019 (with four dissenting votes) not to allow three exiles to stand for the European Parliament election. This decision was later quashed by the Supreme Court. I have decided to translate it into English. TO BE TRANSLATED

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3a euroordre per a l'extradició d'Escòcia de Clara Ponsatí (6 NOV 2019)

Aquesta és una traducció al català de la declaració pública fet per l'advocat defensor de l'Hble. Sra. Clara Ponsatí, el Sr. Aamer Anwar, un cop anunciada la primera reacció de les autoritats britàniques a la petició espanyola d'extradició (EAW).
Clica aquí si cal per llegir l'entrada sencera.

Letter "Democratic Dignity and Freedom" (8 Sept 2019)

Here is an English translation (by MS) of a letter, "Democratic dignity and freedom", written and signed by the pro-independence Catalan politicans and social society leaders who are in prison or in exile.

Click here if need be, to view the rest of the post.

By Aamer Anwar: 'Spain has laid you a trap'

In an interview with Aamer Anwar, Catalan Minister Clara Ponsatí's lawyer, says that 'Spain has laid you a trap''. Here is the link to an English translation of the interview (September 2018).

Click here if need be to access the whole text

Aamer Anwar's speech to Catalonia's Diada (11/9/2018)

Aamer Anwar's speech to Catalonia's Diada in full: 'Independence is your cause and you do not walk alone'

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Statement by AAMER ANWAR & Co

Statement by

AAMER ANWAR & Co 

From the very beginning Clara Ponsati utterly refuted the charges she faced and Spain was accused of abusing the European Arrest Warrant for politically motivated prosecutions.

So today’s withdrawal of all the European Arrest Warrants by the Spanish Supreme Court is a tremendous victory for the Catalan politicians and people.

The warrant failed to ever specify a single act of violence or incitement attributable to Clara or her fellow ministers. Unsurprisingly there is no mention of the actions of several thousand Spanish police and 6000 State Security Forces accused of carrying out brutal unprovoked attacks on a civilian population at over 2000 polling stations.

In a civilised democracy Police Officers are the guardians of law and order, who protect the public they serve, yet the actions of the Spanish police on October 1st have been compared to the dark days of Francoism. We ask the Spanish judiciary and Judge Llarena why no warrants have been issued for a single Spanish police officer for their violent actions against a defenceless population.

To put the charge that Clara faced in context, just try to imagine if the First Minister of Scotland were to call a referendum and Theresa May sent in 15,000 police officers to attack voters and then imprisoned half the Scottish Government whilst issuing warrants for Nicola Sturgeon and others who fled to Europe, threatening them with over 30 years in prison for treason if convicted. Of course that scenario is an impossible nightmare but that is the situation Catalonia faces today.

Contrary to the arguments of the arrest warrant, the gathering of citizens constitutes an exercise of their right to freedom of association and cannot be compared with an act of violence. A true democracy guarantees the absolute freedom of expression for MPs and ministers in exercising their powers. They must be able to speak freely, independently and without fear of any form of prosecution or punishment.

We welcome the withdrawal of the European Arrest Warrants albeit that we still await official confirmation from Spain. But whilst this is a tremendous victory we also remind people that Political Prisoners still remain in custody in Spain. Clara and others have not had their national warrants withdrawn, thus making Clara a political exile which means if she were to return home she would be arrested. We also await to see the next step of the Spanish authorities as they could still reissue revised European Arrest Warrants although this would clearly be a further example of an abuse of the treaty.

If President Sanchez is truly different from the regime of Rajoy then the only solution is a political solution which must mean a guaranteed return of the political exiles and release of all political prisoners with no conditions attached. It is the sovereign right of the Catalan people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs and it can never be illegal under international law for a people to express their right to self-determination.

Clara would like me to thank the people of Scotland, the UK, her fellow Catalans and Europeans as well as the SNP, the Green Party, the STUC and Scottish Government for their tremendous support for her and the Catalan people. Their solidarity will never be forgotten.

Source: http://www.thenational.scot/news/16366198.read-full-statement-on-behalf-of-clara-ponsati-after-european-arrest-warrant-withdrawn/?ref=twtrec

International press reaction to the EAWs

International press reaction to the Euroorders against exiled Catalan politicians in the UK, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland (small selection).

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