Politics
The trial against the Catalan independence movement begins
Twelve independence leaders in the dock
USPA NEWS -
Twelve Catalan separatist leaders have been sitting on the defendant's bench of the Spanish Supreme Court since Tuesday, which judges them for their presumed responsibility and their participation in the illegal referendum on the independence of Catalonia that was held on October 1, 2017. The process will last for three months and the sentence will be known next July.
The twelve defendants are the former vice-president of the regional government of Catalonia Oriol Junqueras, the former councilors Raul Romeva, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull, Joaquin Forn, Dolors Bassa, Carles Mundo, Santi Vila and Meritxell Borras; former Catalan Parliament President Carme Forcadell and social leaders Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart. Nine of them are in preventive detention because, according to the judges, there is a risk of flight.
The first days of the process are dedicated to resolving previous issues. During the first session, on Tuesday, the defenses of the 12 defendants tried to discredit the Court and insisted that the trial has political connotations and violates the constitutional rights of the accused. "We are facing a general cause [against the independence movement] and prospective with violations of rights that make people blush," said the lawyer of former vice-president Oriol Junqueras. "I took the Constitution the other day and all the rights of the Constitution have been violated in this case," he added before assuring that "this cause has been a generalized and sustained suspension of political rights."
This Wednesday are the Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney and the far-right party Vox, which holds the popular accusation, who argue against the assertions of the defenses. Seven judges - six men and one woman - have in their hands the future of the twelve defendants, who harshly criticized the Court not to pursue the other responsible for the illegal referendum that they are on the run, including the former president of the regional government of Catalonia Carles Piugdemont.
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