From left: Jordi Turull, Anna Erra, Carles Puigdemont and Laura Borràs, in Belgium. Parliament (Parliament/EFE)
A new election campaign is upon us. With nowhere to catch our breath after the local election race, the battle for the general elections officially begins this week, elections that will decide the progressive coalition’s resilience against the push from the right and far-right. In the Catalan political circle, the launch of the campaign coincided with a decision by the General Court of the European Union (TGUE) that could be decisive for Carles Puigdemont’s future. This Wednesday, the European Court of First Instance plans to publish the verdict on Puigdemont’s immunity, a decision that could affect the return to Catalonia of the former president, who fled to Belgium after the October 1, 2017 independence referendum.
The court verdict is double. As well as deciding whether Puigdemont’s MEP immunity – including that of his former advisers Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí – is full, the TGUE must assess whether the decision taken by the European Parliament in March 2021 to lift parliamentary protection is for the three Catalans relevant was independentists. 400 votes were counted for lifting their immunity, almost twice as many as for ensuring their protection. Gonzalo Boye, Puigdemont’s lawyer, claims the case is a response to “political persecution” allowing the three to be tried in Spain.
Eurocámara’s lawyers allege that the three representatives of the junts agreed to the MEP’s act “probably unlawfully” as no communication was ever received that the plaintiffs had been appointed or elected MPs in Spain. Still, according to the lawyers, the former Catalan president was treated “entirely correctly” when the chamber’s then-president, the late David Sassoli, awarded them the seat following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in December In 2019, he agreed on his immunity with the President of the ERC, Oriol Junqueras, and decided to obtain it after the results of the European elections were announced.
Puigdemont’s future depends in large part on what the Luxembourg-based TGUE decides. On July 5, “it will be a party for all of Catalonia,” predicted Jordi Turull, general secretary of the junts, a few weeks ago, alluding to the good omens he has for the court verdict. Turull believes the party ideologue’s “perseverance” will have a “reward.”
Should the ruling run counter to the interests of the former Catalan president, he has the option of appealing to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the second instance of Community jurisdiction, which already ruled a year ago to maintain immunity as a precautionary measure .
In any case, the junts’ roadmap is littered with red lights, and finding a leader who can act with all the powers, including the rank of headliner, when the Generalitat elections loom is a mystery. Difficult to quell the Supreme Leader’s appeal as long as he remains protected in Belgium. “I will not return handcuffed or surrender before a Spanish judge to show leniency. I will fight to return free,” Puigdemont assured in January after learning that due to the entry into force of the reform of the penal code, the indictment for the hate speech trial had been dropped, but he was convicted of aggravated embezzlement – carrying a prison sentence of up to 12 years – and held for disobedience.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
subscribe to
Jordi Turull, the mastermind behind the junts’ electoral strategy, is serving a 12-year disqualification sentence for his involvement in organizing the illegal Oct. 1 referendum and has no chance to appear on the ballot. “Nothing will prevent my active commitment to the goal of achieving independence for Catalonia,” he said recently. For her part, Laura Borràs, the president of Junts, is also in lockdown after being sentenced to four and a half years in prison and 13 years of professional ban for cutting public contracts in favor of a friend when she ran an entity belonging to the Generalitat’s Ministry of Culture is integrated.
The junts’ political rivals are basing their election campaign on this week’s events in Luxembourg. Within the pro-independence movement, Esquerra, and to a lesser extent the CUP, know that facing a Puigdemont with the microphone off is not the same as seeing him vindicated in court. But appearances count. Foreign Minister Meritxell Serret has assured that Pere Aragonès’ government expects the TGUE ruling to make “provable” that the fugitive former President’s rights have been violated.
You can follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits