Catalonia

[Pauls' Revere]

350K ppl protest in Barcelona.

https://www.thelocal.es/20191027/350...-freedom-rally

"There are different ways of protesting but we have one objective: independence."
But Catalans remain sharply divided over the question of separating from Spain, with polls showing 44 percent in favour and 48.3 percent against.
Speaking to reporters at the rally, Catalonia's separatist president Quim Torra said his government was with the people "because it is what they want. We will go as far as they want".
He had earlier pledged to push ahead with the controversial independence drive after meeting 800 local mayors who expressed support for secession.
"The show of unity we've seen this week shows the next step that we all must follow... We must all push ahead and exercise the right to self-determination."
Torra has made repeated appeals for dialogue with the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez with the aim of securing Madrid's agreement for a referendum on independence, but they have fallen on deaf ears.

[Swordsmyth]

Several thousand demonstrators banged on kitchen pots and chanted "Catalonia has no king!" on Monday in protest against a visit by the Spanish royal family to the capital of the region that has been hit by weeks of separatist protests.Attended by King Felipe, his wife Queen Letizia and two daughters, the venue of the Princess of Girona young talent awards ceremony in Barcelona was heavily guarded by police who had installed heavy fences and blocked vans one of the city's main thoroughfares with vans.
Some protesters burned pictures of the king.
Waving Catalan independence flags, some of the demonstrators yelled abuse at attendees as they tried to reach a police checkpoint, pushing at least one of them, and forcing a few to turn back and try to find another entrance, a Reuters reporter said.
Dolors Aguilera, 70, said the king's presence in Barcelona was a provocation.
"We have political prisoners in jail. We cannot accept it," she said referring to nine separatist leaders sentenced on Oct. 14 to long jail terms for their role in Catalonia's failed independence bid in 2017.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/spanish-king-...173735901.html

[Swordsmyth]

A mixed opinion issued Tuesday from an adviser to the European Union’s top court gives some grounds to celebrate for both separatists in the Catalonia region as well as the national government in Madrid.An adviser to the EU Court of Justice agreed with Catalan separatists that one of its jailed leaders, Oriol Junqueras, is a member of the European Parliament -- something that Spain disputes. But Catalan separatists were hoping the adviser would issue a clear-cut argument that as a member of the European Parliament, Junqueras is granted immunity from a jail sentence in Spain.
That’s less clear and should ultimately probably be decided by the European Parliament, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the Luxembourg-based court said in his non-binding opinion on Tuesday. The lack of clarity raises the stakes for the Court’s decision, which is expected within around six months. While opinions from the advocates general aren’t binding, the EU court follows them in a majority of cases.
Madrid is likely to welcome the fact that the adviser didn’t issue a straightforward opinion on whether Junqueras has immunity. Spain argues that he has no immunity because he wasn’t able to assume his role as a member of the EU Parliament. Junqueras should remain in jail, Spain says, after a Spanish court sentenced him to 13 years for his role organizing an illegal referendum on Catalonia’s independence in 2017.
The opinion is sure to rekindle the fury among Catalan separatists over the Spanish court decision to send Junqueras and other pro-independence leaders to jail. Initial anger lead to violent protests last month in Barcelona and elsewhere in the Catalonia region. Sporadic protests have continued since then.
Spain must “refrain from any measure which might obstruct the necessary steps” of a member of the EU Parliament to take up his duties, Advocate General Szpunar said. There’s nothing in EU law that makes a member’s start of his or her mandate dependent on them attending the European Parliament’s inaugural session, according to the opinion. Junqueras missed that as he was detained pending trial in Spain for his role in the illegal referendum.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/spain-t-thwar...092754678.html

[Swordsmyth]

Spain was thrown into turmoil on Thursday by court rulings that could undermine Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s hopes of forming a new government and force fresh elections in the region of Catalonia.

In a potentially stinging reversal for Spanish justice authorities, the European Union’s top court ruled that a former Catalán official serving a prison sentence for his role in a banned independence referendum two years ago had the right to parliamentary immunity when he was on trial.
A court in Spain, meanwhile, found that Catalonia’s current president, Quim Torra, is unfit to hold office for 18 months for disobeying the country’s electoral board, a decision likely to lead to more elections in a region riven by protests.
Pro-separatist Catalán politicians applauded and shouted “freedom” after the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice ruled that former Catalán regional Vice-President Oriol Junqueras had earned the right to immunity when he was elected to the European Parliament in May.
The ECJ said that people like Junqueras who are elected as EU lawmakers “enjoy, from the moment the results are declared, the immunity” to travel to and take part in parliamentary sessions.
After the verdict, Junqueras, 50, tweeted: “Justice has come from Europe. Our rights and those of 2,000,000 citizens who voted for us have been violated. Annulment of the sentence and freedom for all! Persist as we have done!”
Junqueras was sentenced in October to 13 years in prison for sedition. Eleven of his associates were found guilty and eight of them also received prison terms.
He was in pretrial detention when he was declared to have won the European Parliament seat. But Spain’s Supreme Court refused to allow him to leave prison to take an oath to respect the Spanish Constitution, a national requirement for politicians to serve as EU lawmakers
The Spanish electoral commission later declared Junqueras' seat vacant and suspended his parliamentary prerogatives.
The ECJ made no criticism of his trial, and it's unclear if the court's ruling might secure his release. However, it could seriously complicate the efforts of Spain’s ruling Socialist party to form a new government following an inconclusive election last month.
The Socialists won the most seats but not a majority. They're now stuck in tortuous talks with Junqueras’ Catalán Republican Left party, hoping the party's representatives in the national parliament will not vote against Sánchez's government and let the Socialists hold onto office, albeit with a minority.
With the court ruling in Junqueras’ favor, the Catalán Republican Left could feel emboldened to press its demand for Catalonia’s right to self-determination to be recognized, something Spain doesn’t even remotely contemplate.
Spain's Supreme Court said it would study the full ruling and gave prosecutors and defense lawyers five days to present their arguments, after which a decision will be made.


The case is likely to set an important precedent for fugitive former Catalán leader Carles Puigdemont, who was also elected to the European Parliament in May and has been living in exile in Belgium. Spain wants him extradited on charges of sedition and embezzlement.
Puigdemont has also launched an appeal at the ECJ. A court in Brussels ruled earlier this week that it would await the outcome of his European case before deciding whether to extradite him.
At his residence outside Brussels on Thursday, Puigdemont and former Catalán health minister Toni Comín cheered and applauded the verdict along with other regional politicians joining them by teleconference.
“If we can be at the European Parliament, and we will be, it is because we were able to fight for our rights from an independent space, with legal guarantees, which is something that doesn’t happen in the Spanish state,” Puigdemont said.
The verdict in the Spanish case against current Catalán leader Torra came after clashes between riot police and protesters during a soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid as authorities struggled to keep separatist activists from disrupting the game.
Torra was banned from holding office for disobeying Spain’s electoral board by not removing secessionist symbols from public buildings in the northeastern region during an election campaign.
Torra, who is fervently in favor of independence and Catalonia's right to self-determination, told the court he did not believe the electoral board had the right to order him to remove the symbols.
Torra said his lawyers would appeal but added in a statement that he has “zero confidence” in Spain's legal system, saying the ruling against him was politically motivated and aimed at the “repression” of Catalonia’s desire for independence.

More at: https://hosted.ap.org/citizensvoice/...mmunity-rights

[Swordsmyth]

Spain’s state attorney on Monday recommended the release of Catalan separatist leader Oriol Junqueras from prison in what was widely seen as a gesture of political goodwill as the Socialist Party seeks support to form a government. The state attorney’s office asked the Supreme Court to let Junqueras go to Brussels to take his seat as a European member of parliament. He was sentenced in October to 13 years in prison over his role in a failed 2017 bid for Catalan independence.
The European Union’s top court said this month that Junqueras was entitled to immunity as an EU lawmaker. The Spanish Supreme Court is expected to give a ruling in coming weeks.
The state attorney’s opinion was widely anticipated as the Socialists have been trying to persuade Junqueras’ party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), to back a Socialist-led government by abstaining in a parliamentary vote to confirm acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as premier.


ERC’s parliamentary spokeswoman Marta Vilalta said it considered the negotiations with the Socialists as an “opportunity for Catalan separatism,” but any decision on facilitating Sanchez’s confirmation will depend on the party’s governing body which is scheduled to meet on Jan. 2.
“It is time to put in the hands of the (ERC) National Council the decision on whether the proposal we have received is enough for us to abstain in the investiture vote,” she added.
The Spanish attorney also asked the European Parliament to strip Junqueras of immunity so that the case against him would not be completely dropped, but this would require a difficult-to-achieve majority among the 700-odd MEPs.
Junqueras was elected to the European Parliament in May while he was in jail awaiting the verdict in his case.
“This is not a gesture, but the fulfilment of legal requirements coming from European justice,” ERC’s Vilalta told reporters. “We are convinced that Spanish justice will abide by the ruling of the European Court of Justice.”

More at: https://yournews.com/2019/12/30/1379...atalan-leader/

[Warlord]

Maybe Spain will quit the EU like the UK and no longer be subject to the EU court.

[Swordsmyth]

Maybe Spain will quit the EU like the UK and no longer be subject to the EU court.

Not unless the new VOX party grows much bigger.

[Pauls' Revere]

Maybe Spain will quit the EU like the UK and no longer be subject to the EU court.

Gawd I hope!

[Warlord]

There was an opinion poll in Poland and it showed a majority wanted to leave the EU. The whole Empire is collapsing.

[Swordsmyth]

The arrest warrant targeting Carles Puigdemont has been suspended by Belgian judicial authorities because of the Catalan separatist leader's immunity as a European lawmaker, his lawyer said Thursday.Paul Bekaert told The Associated Press that the Belgian judge in charge of the case also suspended the warrant issued against former Catalan cabinet member Toni Comin.
The two are wanted in Spain for their role in an illegal 2017 secession bid by the Catalan government and separatist lawmakers. They fled to Belgium after the attempt failed and were elected to the European Parliament in May as representatives of Catalan separatist parties from Spain.
Last month the European Union’s top court, the European Court of Justice, overturned a decision preventing Puigdemont and Comin from taking their European Parliament seats. Spain's state prosecutors' office, however, asked a Spanish judge to maintain the international arrest warrants for the pair.
It was still not clear whether Puigdemont and Comin, whose extradition hearing had already been postponed to Feb. 3, will be allowed to take their seats.
“The investigative judge has decided to suspend the procedure of the European warrant following the decision of the European Court of Justice,” Bekaert said. “The European Court has ruled they have immunity."
Belgium's federal prosecutor's office did not immediately answer a request for comment.
“Belgian justice recognizes our immunity and decides to suspend the arrest and extradition warrant!" Puigdemont said in a message posted on Twitter. “But now we are still waiting for the release of (Oriol Junqueras), who has the same immunity as us. Spain must act in the same way as Belgium has done and respect the law."

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/belgian-judge...134003446.html

[Swordsmyth]

Spain's electoral board on Friday ordered the pro-independence president of Catalonia's government be stripped of his regional lawmaker role, in a move that may complicate efforts to end a prolonged national political deadlock.The board issued its ruling that Quim Torra lose his legislator's job on the eve of a possible turning point in the country's bid to re-establish stable government following its worst political furore in decades.
On Saturday parliament holds a vote in which Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez is relying on the abstention of Catalan separatists Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) -- a political ally of Torra -- to confirm him as Prime Minister.
The ERC, which governs Catalonia as part of a coalition with Torra's Junts per Catalunya party, signaled discontent with the board's ruling, a sentiment that could cast a shadow over Sanchez's prospects of confirmation.
Senior ERC lawmaker Gabriel Rufian described the decision as a "coup d'etat" on Twitter, while fellow ERC top official Pere Aragones referred to it as "abhorrent," confirming his support for Torra.
A parliamentary source also said the board has decided to block ERC's jailed leader Oriol Junqueras from taking up his position as a member of the European Parliament.
The ERC called a meeting of its executive board for Saturday to evaluate the political consequences of the ruling on Torra, which follows Torra's sentencing by Catalonia's highest court to an 18-month ban from public office over his refusal to remove separatist symbols from government buildings.
Torra has appealed against the court's ruling, meaning it could take months for the ban to come into force, if it is upheld.
Speaking outside the seat of the Catalan government in Barcelona, Torra condemned the board's decision and described the rulings against himself and Junqueras as an "extremely serious attack."
Torra's lawyer was not immediately available for comment and it is unclear if he can appeal against the board's ruling.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/spains-electo...211944185.html

[Swordsmyth]

Catalan separatist leaders Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comin took their seats in the European Parliament on Monday, vowing to force their secessionist cause onto Europe's agenda just days after Spain repeated its call for their arrest.The two politicians, both of whom live in self-imposed exile in Belgium, have long been sought by Madrid over their role in defying Spanish courts to hold a 2017 referendum on independence and the short-lived secession declaration that followed.
"This is a historic day for us," Puigdemont told reporters outside the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, flanked by cheering supporters as he prepared to head into his first parliamentary session.
"We are here to remind people that the Catalan crisis is not an internal matter, it is a European one."


Puigdemont and Comin were elected as European parliamentarians (MEPs) last May but were unable to return to Spain to take oaths and collect credentials for fear of arrest.
However, their status shifted last month when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that another separatist leader Oriol Junqueras, also elected an MEP in May, was entitled to immunity.
Junqueras, who remained in Spain, was sentenced to 13 years' prison in October over his role in Catalonia's 2017 breakaway bid.
After Spain's Supreme Court ruled last week that the sentencing barred him from immunity as an MEP, the European Parliament on Friday revoked his mandate.
Puigdemont called for Junqueras to be allowed to carry out the mandate he had been handed by voters.
"If the European Union was really a union of rights and freedoms, Oriol Junqueras would be here today," he said.
Spain's Supreme Court called on Friday for the European Parliament to strip Puigdemont and Comin of their immunity, reiterating that the pair should be handed over to Spanish authorities based on their European arrest warrants.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/catalan-s...154142866.html

[Swordsmyth]

Catalonia's parliament stripped the head of the region's pro-independence government of his rights as a regional lawmaker on Monday, angering supporters who scuffled with police outside the assembly.The parliament's speaker, Roger Torrent, said the assembly in Barcelona had to comply with a Spanish court ruling against regional leader Quim Torra to ensure future votes are not deemed invalid, but said he would seek ways to overturn the decision.
Torra will now be unable to vote in parliament but will remain head of the Catalan government, despite opposition parties' demands that he be removed from the post, Torrent said.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/catalan-leade...194045446.html

[Swordsmyth]

Catalonia’s separatist President Joaquim Torra said he will call early elections, adding a fresh element of instability to Spain’s national political scene by bringing his two-year-old administration to an end.The Catalan legislature has reached the end of the road because unity between pro-independence parties has broken down, Torra said in a televised speech Wednesday. The vote will come after Catalan legislators pass a budget, he said.
Torra’s decision to call elections brings a fresh headache for Sanchez, who is reliant on support from the separatist party Esquerra Republicana to govern. An election in Catalonia means Esquerra will have to do battle with Torra’s Junts per Catalunya party for pro-independence support among the electorate.
That risks making it harder for Esquerra to back the central government in Madrid. At the same time it raises the prospect of a potential realignment of political forces after Torra conceded that the separatist alliance ruling in the northeastern region of Spain had splintered.
“It will have an impact on the wider Spanish scene because it shows how the Catalan situation continues to set the agenda,” said Antonio Barroso, deputy director of research at Teneo Intelligence in London. “Esquerra has tried a more pragmatic strategy with Sanchez but now it has to fight a very tough election in Catalonia.”
Torra’s announcement comes after coalition partner Esquerra broke ranks with him after he refused to abide by a an electoral-board decision that he could no longer serve in the Catalan parliament. Torra sought to cast his vote in the assembly in a session earlier this week only to be told by the parliament speaker that it wasn’t valid.
While Junts per Catalunya deputies stood to applaud him, those from Esquerra Republicana sat quietly in their seats, providing a clear image for the media of the evident rift between between them. Both the speaker of the parliament and Torra’s vice-president are members of Esquerra.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/catalan-elect...114330598.html

[Swordsmyth]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Catalonia's pro-independence regional leader on Thursday for the first time in over a year to outline an agenda for wider negotiations with the region that are due to kick off later this month.The plan seeks to address Catalonia's divisive push for independence and improve relations with the region that tried to break away from Spain in 2017. The 44-item agenda puts issues ranging from taxation to decentralization on the table, although notably not the actual right to self-determination.
"On balance, the past decade has been lamentable. Nobody has won, we all have lost," Sanchez said after meeting with Quim Torra, head of the Catalan regional government, in Barcelona.
"What the government of Spain is proposing is a restart," Sanchez told reporters.


It was regrettable that Sanchez rejected the idea of an authorized referendum on independence and that his request to grant an amnesty to jailed and self-exiled separatist leaders went unanswered, Torra said.
"What we are requesting is that it is a frank and honest dialogue that deals with the political conflict's root," he told reporters.
Torra's party, Junts per Catalunya, is, along with ERC, part of a faltering pro-independence ruling coalition in the region.
Torra said last month he planned to call a snap regional election and, after meeting Sanchez, he said talks between both governments should not be affected by the electoral process. The election would be in May at the earliest.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/spains-pm-mee...180450867.html

[Swordsmyth]

A bloc of parties that support Catatonia’s secession from Spain have strengthened a grip on the region’s parliament. The number of seats won during Monday’s vote is enough for them to form the government.

The three pro-independence parties have increased their majority by four seats. They now hold 74 of the 135 of the seats in the Catalan parliament, which is more than enough to form a government.

The Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Together for Catalonia (JxCat), and the Popular Unity Candidacy, which see the region as independent from Spanish control, each gained seats since the last election in 2017.

More at: https://www.rt.com/news/515646-catal...ependence-win/

[Reine37]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Catalonia's pro-independence regional leader on Thursday for the first time in over a year to outline an agenda for wider negotiations with the region that are due to kick off later this month.The plan seeks to address Catalonia's divisive push for independence and improve relations with the region that tried to break away from Spain in 2017. The 44-item agenda puts issues ranging from taxation to decentralization on the table, although notably not the actual right to self-determination.
"On balance, the past decade has been lamentable. Nobody has won, we all have lost," Sanchez said after meeting with Quim Torra, head of the Catalan regional government, in Barcelona.
"What the government of Spain is proposing is a restart," Sanchez told reporters.


It was regrettable that Sanchez rejected the idea of an authorized referendum on independence and that his request to grant an amnesty to jailed and self-exiled separatist leaders went unanswered, Torra said.
"What we are requesting is that it is a frank and honest dialogue that deals with the political conflict's root," he told reporters.
Torra's party, Junts per Catalunya, is, along with ERC, part of a faltering pro-independence ruling coalition in the region.
Torra said last month he planned to call a snap regional election and, after meeting Sanchez, he said talks between both governments should not be affected by the electoral process. The election would be in May at the earliest.

More at: https://www.shuttle-paris-airports.com/cdg-paris-transfer

Hello, who can explain to me what a frank and honest dialogue is these days?

[Firestarter]

The European parliament has voted to lift the immunity of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and 2 of his ministers, Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, taking them a step closer to extradition and prosecution in the Kingdom of Spain.

The 3 announced that they would appeal against the vote at the the European court of justice, which would extend legal proceedings for at least a year.


Ponsatí lives in Scotland, and Puigdemont and Comín in Belgium.
The Belgian courts earlier denied the Spanish arrest warrant against in 2018.

Nine independence leaders who remained in Catalonia, including Oriol Junqueras, were sentenced up to 13 years by the Spanish courts in October 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ns-of-immunity

[Pauls' Revere]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Firestarter again.

Thank you for the update.

[Firestarter]

Nine leading Catalan secessionists, that were imprisoned in the Kingdom of Spain for more than 3 years for their role in holding a referendum in October 2017 followed by the short-lived declaration of independence for Catalonia have been released from prison.
They are former Catalonia Vice President Oriol Junqueras, 5 cabinet members, Catalonia parliament’s speaker and 2 independence activists.

See 7 of these 9...



The separatists were sentenced to between 9 and 13 years in jail in 2019.
They were given pardons on Tuesday by King Felipe's government.

All 9 secessionists are still banned from holding public office: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/2...doned-by-spain

[TheTexan]

The separatists were sentenced to between 9 and 13 years in jail in 2019.

9-13 years for holding a vote? Jeez.

That's some brutal dictator $#@! right there. Even if they did get pardoned.

[Firestarter]

The separatists were sentenced to between 9 and 13 years in jail in 2019.
They were given pardons on Tuesday by King Felipe's government.

Today the Spanish PP party of Alberto Nunez Feijoo organised a 40,000 people strong protest march in Madrid against a planned (?) pardon for Catalonian separatists.

The PP party won the 23 July elections, but isn’t expected to be able to form a cabinet, which would mean that the second place party of PM Pedro Sanchez could lead a newly formed cabinet: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...an-separatists

[Pauls' Revere]

Today the Spanish PP party of Alberto Nunez Feijoo organised a 40,000 people strong protest march in Madrid against a planned (?) pardon for Catalonian separatists.

The PP party won the 23 July elections, but isn’t expected to be able to form a cabinet, which would mean that the second place party of PM Pedro Sanchez could lead a newly formed cabinet: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...an-separatists

Thank you for the update!