And now the Civil Servants

The Guardia Civil has questioned various officials of the Catalan Government with regard to the preparations for the referendum scheduled for Sunday October 1. The interviews began about two weeks ago, affecting half a dozen people, including Generalitat civil servants who were cited as witnesses in regard to the institutional campaign to encourage inscription in the register of Catalans abroad because a rhetorical publicity slogan “yes or no” has been interpreted as a call for participation in the October referendum.

The Guardia Civil have acted at the request of a judge who is investigating earlier claims made by the former judge Santi Vidal among which he stated that the Generalitat was collecting data to establish an illegal census which would be used in a referendum for independence. The Generalitat denied Vidal’s claims but the court has continued the investigations.

A recent campaign by the Department of Foreign Affairs for Catalans residing abroad to register with the Catalan Government to benefit from services included a graphic of Catalonia with the words “Sí, o no” and has been interpreted as a call to vote in a referendum. The Guardia Civil have used this as an excuse to question the officials without going through the established channels and have interrogated the officials without first notifying the department.

In Parliament yesterday, Generalitat President Carles Piugdemont accused the central government of hounding public servants in a campaign of fear.

The Generalitat has announced it will inform the public on July 4 of details of the referendum.