Supreme Court confirms joint prosecution of Catalan cases

The Supreme Court yesterday confirmed the expected in the macro-case against the government of the Generalitat and the independence process of October 1, finally unifying proceedings within the same court including those opened previously by the judge of the National Court, Carmen Lamela, involving eight Catalan ministers, Jordi Sanchez (ANC) and Jordi Cuixart (Omnium Cultural). In a ruling issued yesterday, Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena took the step that was expected by nearly all parties involved to unify jurisdiction and jurisprudence in one single proceeding the charges against Charles Puigdemont, the ministers, the leaders of civil associations as well as members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee and creates a window for conditional liberty on the eve of the 21-D election campaign. Defence lawyers will demand bail early next week. The ruling does not include the former head of the Catalan police force, Josep Lluís Trapero and his Superintendent Teresa Laplana, both charged with the crime of sedition.

The move is also a relief for Mariano Rajoy who while publically calling for the full force of the law, knows as well that politically, Article 155 and the imprisonment of those charged does little other than garner support for the pro-independence vote.