Former adviser Miquel Buch arriving at the Barcelona court trial this Thursday. Marta Perez (EFE)
Former Interior Minister Miquel Buch (Junts) denied this Thursday that he had hired a Mossos d’Esquadra sergeant as an adviser to the ministry to act as an escort for former President Carles Puigdemont in Belgium. In the final session of a trial where he faces a six-year prison sentence, Buch assured that in the summer of 2018, right after taking office, he signed Lluís Escolà on the recommendation of those around him, although he knew it not. After unsuccessfully testing “four or five trusted people,” the former adviser settled on this police squad, which served as the escort for former Presidents Jordi Pujol and Artur Mas. “We came from the attacks in Barcelona, on 1-O, from situations that had put a lot of strain on the body. “I needed someone from the inside who could explain things to me that would be difficult for a consultant to understand,” he told the Barcelona court. He was joined on the bench by Escolà, who faces four and a half years in prison and who has also defended his work as a counselor.
Prosecutors suspect that Escolà’s appointment to a position of confidence in the Home Office, while formally flawless, was for a hidden purpose: to pay the sergeant for the services he was already providing unofficially as Puigdemont’s escort at Waterloo. After the failed declaration of independence, the former Catalan president fled to Belgium on October 29, 2017. He did so, among others, in the company of Escolà, who explained this episode in court: “Puigdemont asks me if I can accompany him on a trip.” Private property. I tell him that I’m on vacation but it’s an honor for me and that I’ll accompany him in whatever he needs.” From that moment Escolà uses the hours of work accumulated as a police officer and only returns when he’s appointed Consultant returned to work in July 2018. “[Buch] He offers to help me with knowledge about the Mossos body. “It was also an honor for me to be able to assist the minister in this matter, even though he knew he was all alone,” he said.
Escolà held the position between July 2018 and March 2019, when he left the position because, always according to his version, the task did not fully satisfy him. During this time he collected more than 52,000 euros in public funds. For the prosecution, the appointment was a cover, so Escolà was paid for the services he performed at Waterloo to ensure the safety of Puigdemont, who did not receive the accompaniment he was legally entitled to as a former President of the Generalitat. The Ministry considers that the Mosso’s constant trips to Belgium are evidence that he undertook this work. And he questions the validity of the 14 reports that Escolà allegedly delivered to Buch, on subjects as diverse as jihadism, management of major events or social networks.
Sergeant Lluís Escolà, upon his arrival at the trial this Thursday. Marta Perez (EFE)
“It was notes that served me”
In view of the public prosecutor’s thesis, the two defendants agree that the advisory work was carried out satisfactorily for both sides. Escolà didn’t visit the Interior Ministry office regularly, nor did he write very thoughtful reports, but that wasn’t necessary either: Buch, he explained to the judges, wanted to help him dispel any doubts. “More than reports, they were opinions, not very detailed notes because I don’t like to read. They helped me to see what situation I would be in.” The sergeant had to be at his disposal, but this did not mean physical proximity, as many procedures were carried out over the phone and even at the ex-counselor’s home in Premià.
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Buch has downplayed the fact that the escort spent a lot of time traveling, saying he was unaware of his visits to Waterloo, presumably to help keep the former president safe. “I can’t tell you if he went to San Fermín with Puigdempont or with his friends. I didn’t care where I was. I was just asking about availability. As long as I have an answer, I don’t mind taking a bank holiday weekend. “I’m not a slave trader,” joked Buch, who denies that the former (fleeing Spanish justice) president asked him to activate the escort service as interior minister.
Unlike Buch, the sergeant, who has also worked in FC Barcelona’s security team in addition to his long career as chief of bodyguards, has opted to only answer his defense’s questions. Escolà has denied that he worked as an escort for Puigdemont in Waterloo. “You didn’t ask me and I didn’t do it. I didn’t have the tools, the equipment or the physical conditions to do it,” said Escolà, who took a leave of absence from work in April 2018 – three months before he joined the Interior Ministry as a consultant – because of his old back problem (degenerative osteoarthritis). had deteriorated, always according to his version. A few days ago, Puigdemont, in his testimony as a witness via videoconference, said that the “friend and patriot” Escolà accompanied him several times to his Belgian residence in order to guarantee him the protection denied him by the state.
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