Spain orders continued detention of four former Catalan leaders

On December 4, the Spanish Supreme Court rejected the bail application and continued to detain the former Deputy President of Catalonia and three former senior leaders in the dismissed government to serve the investigation of their role in the region's illegal declaration of independence on October 27.

Former Deputy President of Catalonia Oriol Junquera. (Source: okdiario.com)

Specifically, former Catalan Deputy President Oriol Junquera, former interior minister Joaquim Forn and two other leaders of civil groups supporting independence for the autonomous region will continue to be detained.

Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena said the detainees were likely to repeat their criminal behavior, causing “serious, direct and irreparable consequences” for the community. He cited actions that obstructed and endangered law enforcement, such as a September protest in Barcelona outside the city’s central government that left several police officers trapped inside. The court also ruled that six former officials of Catalonia’s ousted government would be released on bail of 100,000 euros ($118,570).

The court's decision also made clear that an investigation into "rebellion and misuse of public funds" targeting the former leadership of the Catalan government is still ongoing.

The move comes as campaigning for the December 21 regional elections in Catalonia has begun. Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is still running in the local elections in Catalonia as the head of the "All for Catalonia" (Junts per Catalonia) party, which includes conservatives, the separatist PDeCAT party of which he is the president, and civil society members. Mr Puigdemont and four other former regional officials are also facing extradition from Belgium after Spain issued a European arrest warrant for them, which a Belgian court is considering enforcing.

Mr Puigdemont and the former officials fled to Belgium last October, ignoring court summonses after the Spanish central government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the entire Catalan regional government following an illegal referendum on independence for the territory.

The upcoming vote is seen as another “referendum” on the issue. Polls show that despite leading the current campaign, Mr Puigdemont’s pro-independence coalition could lose its absolute majority in the upcoming election./.

According to Vietnam+