October 1 goes to court
The State has already been sentence three times for violating the freedom of speech; now it is up to the European Court of Human Rights to examine O-1
The Catalan process is now on the benches of many European courts. Strasbourg has become the new mecca for the independence movement to claim its civil and political rights. There are currently three cases in the offices of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), but that number will increase, including an appeal by Carles Puigdemont which most likely will make to this court. In fact, he already forms part of one of the complaints.
Of the three cases related to the Catalan crisis currently on the table of the court based in Strasbourg, one is a class action “Forcadell, Lluís and Others vs. Spain”, which was filed on October 11 against the Constitutional Tribunal’s preventive suspension of the convening of a parliamentary session following the referendum of 1-O and the possibility of an eventual declaration of independence, affirmed by 76 MPS including House Speakers, Carme Forcadell, and Puigdemont himself. The complaint cites Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding freedom of speech and assembly.
The two other complaints were filed by individual citizens and cite similar cases of freedom of speech and assembly.
What must be admitted is that cases of Human Rights tend to take time before any decision is reached. However, where justice is even slower is in the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) which has been asked to rule on decisions made by Spanish courts. The lawyer representing ERC in two cases, Josep Jover, laments that the entire process of presenting an appeal is drawn out and depends of the ECJ accepting that final rulings have first been made.