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Forcing the law to the limit

State prosecutor summons first 37 mayors for openly supporting October 1 referendum amid challenges to legality of using local police as judicial officers

The mayors of Oliana, Miquel Sala, Pont de Suert, José Antonio Troguet, and Mollerussa, Marc Solsona, are the first officials summoned to appear in court by Catalonia’s public prosecutor for providing support for the referendum. While not accused of committing any offence, the officials are nevertheless expected to cooperate with the investigation.

The prosecutor has the right to launch investigations, question suspects and even order preventative detentions, if there is enough evidence that a crime has been committed. Yet, in this case, no judge has ordered an investigation.

The three mayors are among 37 local officials summoned by the prosecutor for questioning before Monday 25, the first of 712 municipal officials investigated by the state prosecutor. At the same time, various mayors are asking the Catalan prosecutor to ignore the order that local police should act as judicial police at referendum related events .

The mayors of Sant Cugat del Vallès, Vic, Girona, Figueres, Tortosa and Vilassar de Dalt consider the order instructing local police to act as judicial police as “irregular”. An agreement with the Associació de Municipis per la Independència and the Associació Catalana de Municipis, with the Comissió Nacional de Coordinació de la Policia Judicial, sets out that only the local police of large cities previously signed up to agreements with the interior ministry can carry out the task of judicial police in the case of non-serious offences.

Meanwhile, the Catalan government has made an appeal in the Supreme Court against the state order to take over its finances. The executive sees it as an underhand way of suspending Catalonia’s autonomy.

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