Homs away from home
On first day of his Supreme court trial, former presidency minister insists government did no wrong in going ahead with 9-N independence vote
If Francesc Homs privately clashed with the public prosecutor when he gave testimony at the Catalan high court, at the hearing that yesterday began his trial in the Supreme Court, the former presidency minister's skirmish with the prosecutor was very public. “Are you not interested in what I am saying?” Homs asked, frustrated at continual interruptions. On the trial's first day, prosecutor Jaime Moreno aimed to show the Catalan government went ahead with the 9-N vote despite knowing of the order from the Constitutional Court (CC) suspending it, and that the accused was a key instigator in ensuring the vote went ahead. Homs did not deny the government's involvement, but it was, he said, from the conviction that it did nothing wrong and even less so illegal. “I'm here as a consequence of public debate,” he said.
For Homs, the need to uphold basic rights, such as the freedoms of participation and expression, weighed more heavily in the decision by Artur Mas' administration to go ahead than an unclear statement from the CC. It was for that reason, said Homs, that the government demanded a clarification on the ruling that never arrived. At times, yesterday seemed like a carbon copy of February 6 when former president Mas, vice president Joana Ortega and minister Irene Rigau appeared before the Catalan high court.
Before Homs' cross-examination, his defence lawyer, Eva Labarta, demanded the report by Catalan prosecutors saying no offence had been committed on 9-N be evaluated, and called for former state prosecutor Eduardo Torres-Dulce, CC president Francisco Pérez de los Cobos, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and justice minister Rafael Catalá to be summoned to give evidence. Yet, the court refused the request on the grounds that it was inadmissible.