CATALAN President Carles Puigdemont has called a joint security meeting with Spanish officials today to address the independence referendum, which Spain has declared illegal and which is just three days away.
The meeting of Spanish and Catalan law enforcement agencies, and the former’s home affairs ministry, comes after a court dismissed Catalan concerns over the legality of Madrid’s takeover of the Catalan police – the Mossos d’Esquadra.
Josep Lluis Trapero, the Mossos chief, warned that his officers, even following orders from the national government, would not relinquish their professional responsibility and would evaluate the “unwanted consequences” the operation could entail.
Trapero also warned that orders from Spain’s public prosecutor to seal off polling stations before the vote could lead to public order problems. Officers have been ordered to guard areas such as schools, libraries, medical and community centres, and identify people who get inside.
The prosecutor, aiming to stop the referendum going ahead, ordered such establishments to be sealed off between tomorrow and Sunday night, with the closure extending to a 100-metre diameter around bigger centres. Around 6000 sites will be in use on polling day, and the prosecutor said Spanish police or Guardia Civil military police could be called in to help the Mossos.
A lawyer for ex-secretary general of the Catalan economy ministry, is planning to challenge last week’s arrest by Spain of Catalan officials at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Andreu Van den Eynde announced the move yesterday, saying: “The time has come to go to international jurisdictions and ask the European Court of Human Rights, as a result of the entire collection of violations against fundamental rights that my clients are experiencing.”
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said the referendum would “set a precedent for democracy in Europe and the Western world”.
He became a proponent of Catalonia’s cause earlier this month in a series of tweets to his 400,000 followers from his home in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, including: “Catalonia’s vote to secede from Spain on Oct 1 will reveal the true nature of power. Already El Pais and ABC have become a torrent of lies.”
His latest remarks came in an interview with a Catalan radio station, when he said the current political stalemate in Spain’s richest state “is the most interesting political situation in Europe”.
Donald Trump commented on the poll in a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
The US president said: “I can say only, speaking for myself, I would like to see Spain continue to be united. I really think the people of Catalonia would stay with Spain.”
A senior legal figure, meanwhile, has turned on Rajoy for using prosecution – or the threat of it – as a “weapon”. Writing in the Spanish daily El Pais, former high court judge Baltasar Garzon said the legal moves were “an abusive use of the institutions, especially the courts”.
Garzon also criticised Jose Manuel Maza, Spain’s attorney general, for failing to be guided by the principles of minimum intervention and proportionality: “Mister Maza has set aside both, opting for sweeping and preventative action that could contribute to a chain reaction of unforeseen consequences.”
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