Sànchez and Cuixart to appeal

The presidents of Òmnium Cultural and the National Assembly of Catalonia (ACN), Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, have spent their first night without freedom in Soto del Real prison in Madrid. In a few days they will be transferred to a different prison to that currently accommodating Jordi Pujol Ferrusola and Sandro Rosell. Their lawyers, Marina Reig and Jordi Pina, yesterday visited them to advise them to be patient since virtually no pre-trial detention issued by National High Court judges is ever revoked by the courts in Madrid. The pro-sovereignty leaders issued a message of “calm and peaceful mobilisations, as always” to the public, Reig said.

Spanish law allows defendants to be held in custody for two years when charged with serious crimes, which may be extended by up to two more years up to the date of the trial. This is the case of Sánchez and Cuixart, whom judge Carmen Lamela accuses of forming part of an “organised group of people who repeatedly carry out activities outside the legal channels to achieve the independence of Catalonia”, the reason why they are being investigated for sedition, punishable with up to ten years in prison for individuals and up to fifteen years for authority figures.

Despite the reigning pessimism, Cuixart and Sànchez’ lawyers announced that later this week they will lodge an appeal to revoke the ruling of pre-trial detention without bail and request less onerous measures, such as those the same judge imposed on Catalan police chief Josep Lluís Trapero, who has had to give up his passport and must attend court every two weeks, as well as not being allowed to leave Spain. “The risks the judge alleges do not hold up legally”, Pina said yesterday.