Judge Lamela imprisoned Catalan ministers despite complying with Article 155

The recordings, to which ARA has had access, reveal that the Catalan ministers had rejected violence

Ernesto Ekaizer
3 min
Els consellers, arribant a l'Audiència Nacional

MadridAll of the imprisoned ministers have asked to be released, formally acknowledging that they are complying with the application of Article 155 [of the Spanish Constitution] and that, as a result, they accept that they are now ex-ministers. Carmen Lamela, National Court judge --or Judge Pablo Llarena, if the Supreme court takes over the case-- will have to decide whether compliance with Article 155 is enough to curb the cautionary measures and, as requested by the defense, impose bail or require passports to be surrendered as a condition for leaving prison. The situation is, however, exactly the same as on November 2nd in the National Court, as revealed by recordings of the ministers' statements, to which ARA has had first access.

The lawyer for Vice-president Oriol Junqueras and ERC ministers asked Lamela to release them, claiming that they had agreed to their removal from office and, therefore, there was no risk of reoffending in the alleged crimes they have been charged with. "Let's face it: Carles Mundó has registered with Social Security and returned to his law firm. And these gentlemen here [referring to the other Ministers] have not returned to their offices [in the Generalitat]. It appears that they have formally agreed to abide by 155", said Andreu Van den Eynde that day, who also spoke of the declaration of independence as a "political statement" without practical effects.

Judge Lamela, in contrast, granted the cautionary measures requested by the Prosecutor: prison without bail for all the ministers, and release on bail for Santi Vila for having distanced himself from the unilateral strategy. The prosecutor argued that there was a flight risk, as well as risk of reoffending, and stressed the "violent" nature of the pro-independence demonstrations in September and October, during which there were "public derision of politicians and security forces, massive gatherings of volunteers, and blocked highways, all with the aim of separating a part of Spanish territory by violent means". The ministers, nevertheless, had each individually rejected the use of violence to achieve their political aims.

As is already known, all of them chose to reply only to the lawyers for the defense-- the majority only to their own lawyer-- and none of them, except Vila, had to recant the declaration of independence because they weren't even asked to. This was a significant difference from what happened in the hearing of Carme Forcadell and the members of the Parliament's Executive committee before the Supreme Court, when they also responded to the prosecutors' questions.

The democratic path

"Have you promoted acts of a violent nature and tumultuous actions?" "No, never. I am a religious person, and as such, anything to do with violence is unacceptable to me". This was Junqueras' answer, but could be extrapolated to the rest of the ministers. "We have always defended freedom of expression and fundamental rights in a peaceful way, always via a democratic path", said Foreign Minister Raül Romeva in his turn.

"To me, violence is unjustifiable under any circumstances", noted Jordi Turull, Minister of the Presidency. Dolors Bassa, Minister of Social Welfare, resorted, like Junqueras, to reasons of conscience in remarking that she would never consider violent actions to be valid: "I'm a teacher in a Christian school in Torroella de Montgrí, and my principles are against any form of violence, in the streets or anywhere”.

The lawyers also added that the gatherings which the prosecutor characterized as "tumultuous" were not violent in nature and, at any rate, none of the defendants was an instigator. The Mossos didn't collaborate either. Minister of the Interior Joaquim Forn stated before Judge Lamela that he always urged them to comply with judicial orders.

Request for adjournment rejected

The other leitmotiv in the statements was that of complaints over the lack of time to prepare a defense. Madrid’s National Court summoned the majority of ministers with less than 24 hours notice, and Meritxell Borràs did not even receive a summons. Therefore, their lawyers called for the declarations to be adjourned although, unlike the Supreme Court's decision regarding independence supporters on the Parliamentary Executive Committee, Lamela rejected this.

Van den Eynde sent his request on Wednesday via the Lexnet system (used by the court system) at 20:41, and on Thursday morning he sent a solicitor and a lawyer to the court secretary with a copy that was not accepted. Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, who on that day was acting as the lawyer for Josep Rull, Jordi Turull, and Joaquim Forn, also used Lexnet to request the suspension at 9:05 that morning, although he neglected to request it of the judge directly until the first Minister, Turull, had finished his statement. Judge Lamela dismissed both requests and alleged that the defense had neglected their duty. Now, Daniel Pérez, the lawyer representing Forn, has filed an appeal with the court in which he notes that there is "an incontestable documentary trail", to show that they tried to suspend the hearings "because it was materially impossible to prepare a defense due to the lack of time". Lamela —or Llarena if the Supreme Court takes over the case— will have to decide whether to set bail for the ministers. Llarena demanded one other thing besides compliance with 155 from Carme Forcadell and the members of the Catalan government: a renunciation of the unilateral option.

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