Junqueras on hold
Court reexamines Junqueras’ continued imprisonment in face of the State Prosecutor’s insistence that even as president he should remain imprisoned
A “man of peace”, who believing that the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain should be solved “through negotiations.” This was how the Vice President of the Generalitat, dismissed under Article 155, and leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, spoke before the judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals which will review the terms of his custody which have kept him imprisoned since November 2. After a two-hour appearance, where the Republican politician was allowed to petition for his release, the Supreme Court will now take its time to justify the continuing imprisonment of an elected representative from the December 21 elections who also wishes to be considered to lead the government.
On the other hand, the State Prosecutor argued before the bench that neither his condition as MP-elect nor the possibility of him being elected to lead the Generalitat should influence any decision regarding his remaining in prison. The prosecution repeated its argument that Junqueras may continue to be involved in “illegal activity promoting violence” and that the right to be democratically elected does not “constitute sufficient justification to avoid prison,” as well as claiming that Junqueras “lacked any commitment to constitutional legality” and had not “ renounced of the use of illegal means to defend his political project.”
The defence is not optimistic about the ruling of the three appeal judges as should they decide on conditional release would be in complete disagreement with the presiding judge, Pablo Llarena who refered to non-specified “violent acts” and the strong possibility of repeated criminal activity by Junqueras.