Criminal proceedings as a result of the Catalonia crisis since 2017

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In the context of the Catalonia crisis , after the announcement and implementation of the independence referendum it considered illegal from September 2017 , the Spanish judiciary initiated several criminal proceedings against separatist politicians , some of whom evaded by deposition abroad, including Carles Puigdemont , the former prime minister of the region. The trial of the remaining main defendants began on February 12, 2019 and continued through June 12, 2019. The verdict against nine defendants was issued in October 2019. [obsolete]

Background and history

The Catalan regional government elected in January 2016 , with a narrow separatist majority in parliament, originally envisaged a law to hold a referendum on the national independence of Catalonia; However, the law was only passed on September 6, 2017 by the Catalan regional parliament in a turbulent session. All 72 MPs from the governing coalition of Junts pel Sí and the Candidatura d'Unitat Popular voted for the law . The eleven MEPs from Catalunya Sí que es pot (joint group of Podemos , Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds and EUiA) abstained. The 52 MPs from Ciudadanos , Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya and Partido Popular left the Chamber before the vote; the two-thirds majority required for the law was not given. According to the law later declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court , the result of the referendum should be binding. On October 1, 2017, the controversial independence referendum for the separation from Spain took place, although it had been declared illegal and the Spanish authorities tried to prevent its implementation with police measures; if the turnout was low, there was a majority in favor of independence, according to the regional government.

course

Indictment and escape

Carles Puigdemont (2017)

On 16 October 2017, the two separatist activists leaders were Jordi Sànchez ( ANC ) and Jordi Cuixart ( Òmnium Cultural ) by order of the Spanish justice in custody taken; they are accused of public " riot " ( sedición ), according to the allegations shortly before the referendum, on the night of September 20th, as ringleaders , they wanted to lead and feed an organized group of 40,000 people via social media , but also personally Hinder police; the demonstrators were supposed to prevent the house searches ordered by the Spanish judiciary . The pro-independence advocates described this decision as repression and the two politicians as political prisoners . At the same time, Josep Lluís Trapero , head of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), who was accused of being passive in preventing the referendum, was released without bail.

On October 30, 2017, the Spanish Public Prosecutor's Office brought charges against Carles Puigdemont and his Vice-President Oriol Junqueras as well as other disempowered members of the government for rebelión (insurrection), rebellion against the Spanish authorities and misappropriation of public funds (because of their use for the referendum declared illegal by the Constitutional Court) . On October 31, 2017, the criminal chamber of the Audiencia Nacional ordered Puigdemont and the other accused cabinet members to appear in court on November 2, 2017. Carles Puigdemont did not obey the summons; He fled to Belgium with seven of his ministers on October 30, 2017, thereby escaping the Spanish judiciary. On October 31, 2017, the Puigdemont delegation held a press conference in Brussels in front of over 200 journalists. He wanted to "carry the Catalan problem in Europe's heart" ( poner el problema catalán en el corazón de Europa ). The ministers Borràs, Forn and Mundó then returned to Spain, while the rest initially stayed in Belgium. All nine members of the government who appeared for questioning on November 2 were arrested. On November 3, 2017, European arrest warrants were issued against Puigdemont and the four ministers who had fled . They then surrendered to the Belgian police, but were released a short time later subject to conditions. The court justified the determination of the defendants with an increased risk of flight . One day after the summons, former Catalan minister Santi Vila , who resigned the day before the Catalan parliament's “declaration of independence”, was released on bail . In December 2017, the European arrest warrant was withdrawn. The reasons were suspected that on the one hand Spain wanted to avoid a diplomatic crisis with Belgium. On the other hand, a better starting position for the defendants in Belgium should be avoided, since there is no serious charge of rebellion there.

In another procedure before the Tribunal Supremo against the members of the Catalan parliamentary presidium , the public prosecutor requested the arrest of Parliamentary President Carme Forcadell and three other members of the presidium for the willing disregard of the explicit requests of the Constitutional Court, the parliamentary rules in the vote on September 6th 2017 to comply with the controversial Refrendums Act . Forcadell stated during the court summons that this declaration of independence was only "symbolic" and "declarative" in nature and without any legal consequences ; The arrested Catalan Vice-President, Oriol Junqueras, represented this statement in his defense in court. The Spanish judiciary ordered Forcadell and all three members of the Bureau to be released on bail. On December 4, six of the former members of the Catalan government were also released on bail. Oriol Junqueras , Joaquim Forn , former interior minister, as well as Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart remained in custody.

Demonstration for the release of imprisoned Catalan ex-government members in Barcelona in November 2017.

Opening of the procedure

On March 23, 2018, the proceedings against Carles Puigdemont and 12 other accused were opened: Vice-President Oriol Junqueras , ex-ministers Joaquim Forn , Jordi Turull , Raül Romeva , Clara Ponsatí , Josep Rull , Antoni Comin and Dolors Bassa , President of Parliament Carme Forcadell, the vice-chair of the ERC, Marta Rovira , as well as Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, for rebellion and misappropriation of public funds. Legal proceedings were opened against other ex-ministers ( Meritxell Borràs , Lluis Puig , Carles Mundó , Santi Vila and Meritxell Serret ) because of the minor allegations of disobedience (willful disregard and rejection of the decisions of the Constitutional Court) and embezzlement of public funds. Five other ex-members of the Catalan parliamentary presidium ( Llus Maria Corominas , Lluis Guinó , Anna Simó , Ramona Barrufet and Joan Josep Nuet ), the ex-president of the CUP , Mireia Boya , and the parliamentary group spokeswoman for the CUP, Anna Gabriel , were charged with disobedience alone . Turull, Rull, Romeva, Bassa and Forcadell were arrested again because of an increased risk of fleeing abroad. Marta Rovira had previously evaded the summons to court by leaving for Switzerland after she had given up her parliamentary mandate the previous evening; Anna Gabriel had already gone there beforehand. A European arrest warrant was issued against Puigdemont, the other members of the government who fled and Rovira for their extradition.

Furthermore, on April 5, 2018, proceedings were opened against Josep Lluís Trapero, head of the Mossos (Catalan police), and two other top officials responsible for sedición and belonging to a criminal organization due to their alleged lack of support for the police measures to prevent the referendum . Three of Puigdemont's four companions on the trip through Germany were briefly arrested in Spain at the end of March. The law enforcement authorities also started investigations against the fourth.

In early November 2018, prosecutors reiterated that they would call for Oriol Junqueras to be sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for rebellion and embezzlement; against other arrested members of the government (Joaquim Forn, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa) a lower sentence was requested because of their less prominent position with 16 years in prison; Cuixart, Sànchez and Forcadell, who are only charged with rebellion (and not embezzlement), will be sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for having had a leading role in the rebellion. The Spanish government's legal advisors, on the other hand, pleaded for sedicion and misappropriation of public funds, which would result in significantly lower penalties. The difference between rebellion and riot in Spanish law lies in the extent of the violence used in public when coercion.

Temporary fixation of Puigdemont in Germany

On March 25, 2018, Carles Puigdemont, who was returning to Belgium from a lecture at the University of Helsinki, was arrested in Germany on the basis of the European arrest warrant issued two days earlier. He was then taken to the Neumünster correctional facility . Puigdemont had previously been able to pass Denmark unmolested, because according to the Danish police they had only recently learned that Puigdemont had been in the country. As a result, it was impossible for the Danish police to arrest him before he crossed the border into Germany. The Spanish intelligence service Centro Nacional de Inteligencia alerted the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) when Puigdemont set off from Finland for Germany. The BKA then gave the decisive information to the State Criminal Police Office in Schleswig-Holstein .

At the request of the Schleswig-Holstein Public Prosecutor's Office , the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court issued an extradition warrant for embezzlement against Carles Puigdemont on April 5, 2018 , but at the same time suspended its execution. Only the accusation of “corruption” could be relevant in the present case, because this criminal act could also be punished as breach of trust under German law ; a final decision on this has not yet been made. However, there is no equivalent to the Spanish criminal offense of rebelión in German law. Therefore, extradition based on this is out of the question. There are no indications that Puigdemont is subject to political persecution in accordance with Section 6 (2) IRG . Although there is a risk of flight, it has been "significantly reduced" as there is no threat of extradition because of rebelión . Therefore, exemption from detention was granted against payment of a security. He also had to report to the police once a week - including every time he changed his whereabouts - and was not allowed to leave the country.

On May 9, 2018, the Attorney General of Schleswig-Holstein applied for the execution of extradition detention. The request was justified, inter alia. so that based on the information subsequently supplied by the Spanish authorities (in particular from video recordings), the criminal offenses of high treason and serious breach of the peace would also be fulfilled under German law . The Higher Regional Court rejected the application by order of May 22, 2018 because, after a preliminary examination, these facts were not met.

Finally, Spain withdrew the arrest warrant for Puigdemont. On July 19, 2018, the responsible Spanish investigative judge, Pablo Llarena, refused an extradition only on the basis of the allegation of misappropriating public funds and at the same time withdrew the renewed European arrest warrant against Puigdemont and the ex-ministers, after only one was ruled on July 12, 2018 Extradition for misappropriating public funds had been approved by the court and criminal proceedings for rebellion after extradition from Germany had become impossible. Puigdemont returned to Belgium.

Proceedings against other defendants who have fled abroad

Former Education Minister, Clara Ponsatí, who fled to Brussels with Puigdemont at the end of October 2017 and resumed her previous position at St Andrews University in Scotland in March 2018 , surrendered to the British authorities on March 28, 2018, but was still on released the same day on bail . The three former ministers who remained in Brussels, Toni Comín, Meritxell Serret and Lluís Puig, had also surrendered to the police and were initially released pending a decision on a possible extradition without bail; on May 15, 2018, the Belgian judiciary refused extradition due to a formal error in the European arrest warrant. A Belgian court refused a renewed request to extradite Puig in August 2020; In the appeal, the next instance confirmed the refusal to extradite Puig at the beginning of January 2021. The Spanish Supreme Court was not competent as long as Puig's case was not heard in a court in Catalonia (violation of the constitutional rights of appeal or the legal judge ).

Criminal trial

The trial of the twelve defendants, nine of whom had been in custody for over a year at that time, began on February 12, 2019. The trial began with the defendants' preliminary statements and the taking of evidence, including the former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was called to the stand should take several months, and judgments were not expected before the parliamentary elections on April 28 and the European and local elections on May 26, 2019. The process was open to the public, was followed with considerable national and international attention and was, inter alia, streamed live daily through multiple media.

The Vox Party , represented by General Secretary Javier Ortega Smith and Vice-President Pedro Fernández, was present as public prosecutor . The party demanded imprisonment for every defendant, sometimes up to 74 years.

On June 4, 2019, the General Prosecutor's Office made its plea and reiterated that the actions in autumn 2017 had been an outright coup in which the constitution was intended to be undermined by illegal means; the criminal offense of rebellion is therefore given; there had been “use of mass crowds”, “use of the Mossos ” and “sufficient use of force” in order to undermine the constitutional order. “Riots undermine public calm; Rebellion the foundations of the rule of law. ”On June 11, the defense pleaded - disobedience and disregard of the instructions of the constitutional court by the regional government was acceptable within the framework of an independence strategy, but at no moment did rebellion become an offense - violence was only a marginal problem and by no means wanted or planned by the actors; isolated cases were taken out of context and exaggerated by the media and the prosecution.

The defendants' final statements followed on June 12, in which they repeatedly denied the allegation of organizing violent confrontations and argued that the question of Catalan independence must be resolved politically and not legally. In October 2019, nine “ riot ” defendants were sentenced to long terms of between nine and thirteen years in prison; a conviction for "rebellion" was waived.

The following judgments were made:

At the same time, the international arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont was reactivated. On March 8, 2021, the European Parliament lifted its MEPs immunity, which in principle formally facilitates extradition to Spain.

In June 2021, the Spanish government under Pedro Sánchez pardoned the separatists who had already been convicted, “in order to restore harmony and coexistence”. The opposition announced an appeal against this decision before the Spanish Supreme Court .

Reactions to the judgments

In the days following the verdict, there were demonstrations across Catalonia involving more than 500,000 people and a general strike on October 18, 2019. Although mostly peaceful, some demonstrations resulted in violent clashes with around 100 injured. The president of the regional government, Quim Torra , urged the demonstrators to be peaceful, but at the same time announced that he would continue the independence movement.

Other procedures

Counterclaim

In June 2018, Carles Puigdemont and the 4 ex-ministers of his government who had fled, brought a civil lawsuit in Belgium against the competent Spanish judge, Pablo Llarena, for bias and violation of the presumption of innocence; since he was from now on biased by the pending lawsuit, he had to be deprived of jurisdiction over the proceedings; Llarena was summoned by the Brussels court for September 2018. The Spanish judiciary declined jurisdiction to the Belgian court, assuming that the Belgian judiciary would not allow proceedings on the matter; At the end of August, the government announced that the Spanish state was responsible for the judge.

Assessment of third parties and protests

Human rights organizations

Amnesty International said that the imprisoned members of the Catalan government and ex-ministers and the two activists Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart could and should not be considered political prisoners of conscience as the Spanish judiciary charged them with specific criminal offenses; At the same time, the organization stated that it considered the allegations of riot (Spanish sedición ) against Sànchez and Cuixart to be exaggerated. Shortly after their arrest, Amnesty International asked the Spanish judiciary and authorities to drop the sedición charges and release them from custody as soon as possible. The UN Working Group against Arbitrary Detention , in a report dated June 13, 2019, called for Cuixart and Sànchez to be released. She found violations of the "exercise of human rights" and the "principle of a fair trial" and categorized the detention as "unlawful and discriminatory".

Following an analysis of the verdict, Amnesty concluded that the conviction of Sànchez and Cuixart restricted their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Both should be released immediately as the convictions were based on a dangerous interpretation of the law criminalizing legitimate protests. The World Organization Against Torture also called for Cuixart and Sànchez to be released on the same grounds .

Assessments from lawyers

With reference to the possibilities within the framework of the EU framework decision on the European arrest warrant, the lawyers Ulrich Karpenstein and Roya Sangi stated that the Higher Regional Court had to comply with its submission obligation to the European Court of Justice . For the legal and political scientist Ulrich K. Preuss , the arrest warrant issued contained “disturbing elements of a politically pleasing judicial act”. Daniel Sarmiento, professor of European and administrative law at the Complutense University in Madrid, criticized the decision of the OLG and criticized the fact that the provisions of the EU framework decision had been misunderstood and that no further information on the case was obtained. Javier Pérez Royo, professor of constitutional law at the University of Seville , sees the core argument of the OLG Schleswig-Holstein in the incompatibility of the charge of rebellion with democracy, because the way the Spanish judiciary interprets this criminal offense, the right of assembly and demonstration would curtail fundamental rights . Therefore, the OLG did not hesitate to rule out extradition for rebellion . This is not based on a procedural argument, but on a substantive argument. The criminal prosecution of Catalan politicians violates various fundamental rights and is constitutionally questionable: the right to the legal judge ( juez ordinario predeterminado por la ley ), that of appeal ( doble instancia ) and the right to vote and stand for election when the President of the Generalitat is appointed ; in addition to the disproportionate deprivation of liberty. In addition, the highest court in Madrid is not competent - as the first and only instance - but that in Catalonia. The fact of the rebellion is by no means given, since this presupposes "considerable violence". In an open letter, 120 Spanish law professors sharply criticized the prosecution's approach.

Protests

Protest posters and " yellow ribbons " in front of the Neumünster correctional facility .

During a demonstration in Barcelona on the evening of March 25, 2018, over 50,000 supporters of Puigdemont took to the streets and demonstrated against his arrest. There were clashes between demonstrators and police officers. There were 92 injured on both sides. In Barcelona, ​​the demonstrators marched from the city office of the EU Commission representing Germany with banners and posters saying “Liberate our President. Don't be helpers! ”Others wore Catalan flags as a symbol of independence and Puigdemont masks as support.

Individual evidence

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  11. ↑ European arrest warrant withdrawn , Wiener Zeitung on December 5, 2017
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  13. ↑ La Vanguardia: Junqueras asume el 155 y define la DUI como meramente “política” , November 21, 2017, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  14. ↑ La Vanguardia: El Tribunal Supremo procesa por rebelión a 13 líderes soberanistas en la causa del procés , 23 March 2018, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  15. ↑ La Vanguardia: El juez envía a prisión sin fianza a Turull, Rull, Romeva, Bassa y Forcadell , March 23, 2018, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  16. ↑ Puigdemonts police escorts arrested in Spain released again. Der Standard , March 29, 2018, accessed on the same day.
  17. ^ Puigdemont appeals to the federal government. ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.spiegel.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Spiegel Online, March 28, 2018, accessed on the same day.
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  24. ^ Attorney General applies for an extradition arrest warrant to be issued against Carles Puigdemont. (PDF; 107 kB) Schleswig-Holstein Public Prosecutor's Office , April 3, 2018, accessed on April 3, 2018 (press release).
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  32. ↑ Spain withdraws the international arrest warrant against Puigdemont. Spiegel online from July 19, 2018.
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  34. ^ Belgian judiciary rejects extradition of separatists. Time online from May 16, 2018.
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  38. ↑ El Periodico: Calendario y fechas clave del juicio del 'procés' , February 12, 2019, accessed on March 25, 2019 (Spanish)
  39. ↑ FAZ: Where the Catalans are wrong , commentary on the trial by Paul Ingendaay, March 5, 2019, accessed on March 25, 2019.
  40. ↑ El TSJC admite a Vox como en la causa contra acusación popular Forcadell. November 6, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2019 .
  41. ↑ 'El 1 de octubre España estuvo al borde del precipicio'. In: La Gaceta. June 9, 2018, Retrieved October 17, 2019 (Spanish).
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  44. ↑ El Pais: La Fiscalía eleva el 'procés' a un golpe de Estado que recurrió a la violencia - El ministerio público acusa a los líderes independentistas de "intentar liquidar" la Constitución , June 5, 2019 (Spanish)
  45. ↑ El Pais: La defensa de Junqueras, Romeva y Forn admite que cometieron desobediencia, pero niega la rebelión , June 11, 2019 (Spanish)
  46. ↑ Long prison sentences for Catalan separatist leaders , zeit.de, published and accessed on October 14, 2019.
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  50. ^ Spain pardons Catalan separatists. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved June 22, 2021 .
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  53. ↑ El Pais: Puigdemont y los exconsejeros huidos demandan a Llarena en Bélgica para forzar su recusación , June 5, 2018, accessed on August 29, 2018 (Spanish)
  54. ↑ el catalan.es: Amnistía Internacional no considera “presos políticos” a los ex 'consellers' ni a los 'Jordis' , November 8, 2017, accessed on November 11 (Spanish)
  55. ↑ El Periodico: Amnistía Internacional considera que los 'exconsellers' no son "presos de conciencia" , November 9, 2017, accessed on November 11 (Spanish)
  56. ↑ "Amnesty International calls on Spanish authorities to drop the charges of sedition and to put an immediate end to their pre-trial detention.", From Spain: Charges for sedition and pre-trial detention against Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez are excessive (explanation by Amnesty International on October 18, 2017)
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  58. ↑ Spain's conviction for sedition of Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart threatens rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly
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  60. ↑ Ulrich Karpenstein, Roya Sangi: The Puigdemont case - a European problem! In: verfassungsblog.de. April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
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  62. ^ Daniel Sarmiento: The Strange (German) Case of Mr. Puigdemont's European Arrest Warrant. In: verfassungsblog.de. April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
  63. ^ Javier Pérez Royo: No es un juicio de valor, señor Borrell. Retrieved June 21, 2020 (Spanish).
  64. ^ Javier Pérez Royo: El Tribunal Supremo como juez de conveniencia. Retrieved June 21, 2020 (Spanish).
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