SPAIN AGAINST THE CATALONIA NATION -- Catalan News Agency - Upheaval in Spain’s Public Prosecution Office over the complaint against Catalan President

Catalan News Agency - Upheaval in Spain’s Public Prosecution Office over the complaint against Catalan President

 

Upheaval in Spain’s Public Prosecution Office over the complaint against Catalan President

CNA

Barcelona (ACN).- The public prosecutors based in
Catalonia refused to back their Madrid-based boss regarding the
complaint against the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas,
and other members of his cabinet for authorising the symbolic vote on
independence that took place on November 9. As they said on Monday
evening, there are not enough legal reasons for filing such a complaint,
despite the enormous pressure from Spanish nationalists to do so. In
fact, on Tuesday the Catalan Government accused the Spanish Executive
and the People’s Party of pressuring the Public Prosecution Office,
whose Director is appointed by the Spanish Government and who directly
reports to the Spanish Minister of Justice. The Catalan Minister for the
Presidency, Francesc Homs, stated that such pressure seriously “damages
the separation of powers” in Spain and “the rule of law”. Meanwhile,
the PP’s ‘number 3’, Carlos Floriano, accused the Catalonia-based
prosecutors of being “contaminated by the atmosphere” of “radical
secessionism” and another PP spokesperson was certain that Torres-Dulce
“will honour his duty” and file the complaint.

In the last few days and after an initial controversy over the
possibility of filing such a complaint, the Director of Spain’s Public
Prosecution Office, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, had been unsuccessfully trying
to obtain the explicit support from his Catalan team to carry out a
judicial action that has deep political implications. In addition, there were serious doubts that such a process would be finally launched.
A judicial complaint against the President of Catalonia from one of the
Spanish State’s main institutions would take the current conflict one
step higher and could provoke a strong boomerang effect against Madrid’s
establishment, since many Catalans would side with their President in
solidarity. With early elections on the horizon that could become a ‘de
facto’ referendum on independence, a judicial complaint against Mas
could bring him additional support. However, on the other hand, the
judge could issue a temporary ban for public office against Mas, while
the case is being solved.

The complaint is likely to be filed anyway

Despite the lack of support from Catalan prosecutors, Torres-Dulce is
likely to follow through with it anyway, after several members of the
Spanish Government, the People’s Party (PP) and other Spanish
nationalist parties publicly urged him to do so in the last few days,
including on Tuesday. In any case, the rebellion of Catalan prosecutors
will not provoke a schism in this hierarchical institution, since on
Tuesday afternoon they announced that they will obey Torres-Dulce if he
insists. Barcelona-based prosecutors confirmed they have the complaint
“almost ready” to be filed, if they receive the instruction from Madrid
to do so. On Wednesday, Torres-Dulce will meet with prosecutors from
throughout Spain in order to gather additional support for his position
and the complaint could be filed that day or on Thursday.

Prosecutors based in Catalonia did not find enough evidence to file a
judicial complaint for the citizen participation process on
independence, in which 2.3 million Catalans cast their ballots.
Catalan prosecutors argue that the Constitutional Court did not
explicitly tell Mas to stop preparations for November 9 – even though
the Spanish Government had requested the Court to do so. On top of this,
in order to disobey a judicial decision, the court has to issue a first
warning or a reminder of its decision, which was not the case.
Furthermore, the Constitutional Court temporarily suspended November 9’s
vote on November 4, but it did not declare the vote illegal, since the
suspension is an automatic mechanism that is activated when the Court
agrees to take into consideration an appeal from the Spanish Government.
Furthermore, the
Court rejected the opportunity to meet again after Tuesday’s decision
in order to give further instruction and to debate about the Catalan
Government’s appeal, while the vote was supposed to take place on Sunday.

Legal experts do not advise that the complaint be filed

Some expert voices back such views. Such is the case of Spain’s
Supreme Court Judge Margarita Robles, who, on Tuesday, advised against
taking political problems to court. Furthermore, the Council of Catalan
Lawyers also issued a statement and considered that there are is enough
evidence to launch a judicial process against the Catalan President and
Ministers. In addition, Catalonia’s Supreme Court pointed out that they
are already dealing with 12 complaints against the Catalan President for
November 9’s vote, mostly filed by political organisations. They
highlighted that the Barcelona-based Public Prosecution Office, which
obeys Torres-Dulce, will have to issue reports about such complaints and
therefore it will already have the opportunity to judicially
investigate November 9’s vote.

Political parties quarrel over the complaint

The Catalan Government and most of the political parties based in
Barcelona warned that Madrid’s pressures seriously damage the separation
of powers, which is essential in any functional democracy. The Catalan
Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, stated that the
“unacceptable pressures” from the Spanish Government also damage “the
rule of law” in Spain. Furthermore, Homs offered the Spanish Prime
Minister, Mariano Rajoy, a meeting with the Catalan President on
November 29, when he travels to Catalonia.

Meanwhile, the PP is continuing to say in public that Torres-Dulce
will find the complaint and that they are positive that he will do his
job and “honour his duty”, as the PP’s Spokesperson at the Spanish
Parliament, Alfonso Alonso, said on Tuesday. They also added that there
are “enough reasons [for Torres-Dulce] to react”. Furthermore, the PP’s
Deputy Secretary General for Organisation, in charge of party
discipline, Carlos Floriano, accused Catalonia-based prosecutors of
being “contaminated by the atmosphere of radical secessionism” and of
not acting in an objective way. Meanwhile, Floriano denied putting any
pressure on Torres-Dulce and highlighted the “autonomy” of the Public
Prosecution Office.

In addition, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) warned the PP and the
Spanish Government about “taking a political problem to courts” and
they asked for “caution”. Furthermore, they criticised to what extent
the complaint can be seen as launching “arguable and doubtful
initiatives”. Once again, they urged the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano
Rajoy, to negotiate with Catalan representatives and to launch a
Constitutional Reform. On top of this, the Spanish nationalist and
populist party UPyD, which tends to compare the Catalan
self-determination process with the Nazi regime, announced an additional
complaint against Mas. UPyD will file a complaint directly to
Catalonia’s Supreme Court but they asked the Public Prosecution Office
“to act at once”.

More on

Artur Mas, Carlos Floriano, Catalan Government, Catalan Supreme Court, Centralism, Complaining, Constitutional Court, Democracy, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, Francesc Homs, Judges, Justice, Minority Rights, Negotiations, Public Prosecutor Office, Recentralisation, Referendum, Spanish Constitution, Spanish Constitutional Court, Spanish Government, Spanish Nationalism, Spanish Supreme Court, Vote

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The headquarters of the Public Prosecution Office in Barcelona ( by P. Solà)

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Related links

http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/milestones-in-catalonia-s-self-determination-before-2012-massive-pro-independence-demonstration