FIVE of Catalonia’s political prisoners who successfully stood in last month’s Spanish election will be allowed to travel to the Cortes – Spain’s equivalent of Westminster – before they are sworn in on Tuesday.
Legal sources told the EFE news agency that Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Jordi Sànchez, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull could be taken as soon as today, or more likely Monday, to the Spanish parliament to carry out the procedures necessary for them to become MPs – or in the case of Romeva, a senator.
Andreu van den Eynde, the lawyer representing Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) leader Junqueras and his party colleague Romeva, served a petition at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, arguing that allowing them to attend for one day was insufficient.
Jordi Pina, who represents the other three elected prisoners, had requested their temporary release between yesterday and Monday.
The five are among the dozen politicians and civic leaders on trial for their part in the October 2017 Catalan independence referendum.
READ MORE: Catalonia indyref: 28 new people charged including media bosses
No trial session was planned by the Supreme Court for Tuesday, presumably to avoid it having to accede to their requests for temporary freedom.
They are likely to be taken in a Civil Guard van from Soto del Real prison, where they have been incarcerated, to an underground car park at the Congress building.
On arrival, they will be transferred into the custody of the Spanish police who are responsible for security in the Cortes.
Seats at the rear of the debating chamber have already been specified for Junqueras, Sànchez, Turull and Rull.
Romeva will be subject to similar security protocols in the Senate.
They will only have anything like real freedom of movement within the chamber, when they swear to uphold the constitution and vote on the composition of the parliamentary board.
While they will not be handcuffed, the five will be under close police supervision and they are unlikely to be able to have any contact with journalists or members of the public.
Once the parliamentary session has ended, the political prisoners will be returned to jail “without delay”, as ordered by the court.
READ MORE: What can Scotland learn from Catalonia? Quite a lot actually ...
Meanwhile, the grassroots group Omnium Cultural has criticised the Constitutional Court’s refusal to allow bail to its president Jordi Cuixart, who is also on trial over the independence referendum and has been incarcerated for 19 months.
The court said his detention was “pertinent, adequate, and proportional”, which Omnium disputed.
Cuixart was arrested after the referendum and charged with sedition and rebellion for playing a part in organising a peaceful demonstration in Barcelona the month before.
Omnium asked: “Can 19 months of incarceration without bail or conviction for any crime be ‘pertinent, adequate and proportional’ for a peaceful demonstration where Mr Cuixart was filmed by numerous media organisations calling for calm and peace at all times? The Constitutional Court claims Cuixart must be kept incarcerated because he is a flight risk, though he had weeks to flee between the demonstration that led to the charges against him and his actual arrest and he did not flee.”
“It also stated that Cuixart has shown ‘reiterated disdain for obeying legal decisions’, although there is absolutely no proof of that.”
Omnium said his continued detention was a breach of his basic human rights, and urged the international community to recognise that.
“With the rise of the ultra-right across Europe and the growing threats to democracy and freedoms around the world in general, the international community should not close its eyes to the arbitrary detention of Catalonia’s political and civil society leaders and the political show trial that is still ongoing in Madrid.”
In the Catalan Parliament, pro-independence parties yesterday flexed their muscles to prevent Catalan Socialist party (PSC) leader Miquel Iceta taking a seat in the Senate, Spain’s upper house.
Pedro Sánchez, the acting Spanish president, had nominated Iceta to head the Senate, but to take up the post he needed the parliament to grant him the seat vacated specifically for this purpose last week by former Catalan president, José Montilla.
What would normally have been a formality turned into a saga as pro-independence parties, which have a majority in the parliament, delayed a decision because of Iceta’s opposition to Catalan self-determination.
They voted against the appointment yesterday, a result Iceta said he would challenge in the courts.
Iceta claimed after the decision: “Sectarianism has prevailed over legality and common sense.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here