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With all this, the Puigdemont case is taking forever and I do not think it will have a quick solution because even the highest magistrates are faced with an unprecedented case whose criminal and procedural rules present many loopholes and give rise to a lot of confusion skilfully exploited by the Puigdemont attorneys.

Francesc Granell, 8 October 2021

Supporters and journalists waited yesterday outside the Sassari Court of Appeal Laura Cortés / ACN

My European contacts agree that what was voted in the Parliament of Catalonia in September 2017 and what followed lacked any democratic logic because it did not respect the principle of guaranteeing the territorial integrity of the member states of Article 4 of the Treaty of the European Union.

Puigdemont’s flight abroad served to show that the former president was aware that what had been done would be prosecuted by the courts, no matter how much it has allowed to show, also, the ineffectiveness of the Spanish justice to function in the European sphere.

A solution with winners and losers could make dialogue unfeasible

Since 2017, many things have happened at the political and judicial level until we reach the situation of imbroglio in which we are currently living and with which the lawyers who take advantage of the litigation filed and for inventing the possible defenses to avoid a quick final sentence that determines whether or not Puigdemont should be extradited to appear before the Spanish courts. Many of us would like to know how much all this is costing.

Today everything is in the hands of European justice, which cannot escape what has already been said by the European Parliament, the European Court of Human Rights, the Venice Commission and even the judges and the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office.

With all this, the Puigdemont case is taking forever and I do not think it will have a quick solution because even the highest magistrates are faced with an unprecedented case whose criminal and procedural rules present many loopholes and give rise to a lot of confusion skilfully exploited by the Puigdemont attorneys.

At this point I get the feeling that those involved are happy with this situation because after the pardons we had managed to calm the waters of the Barcelona-Madrid dispute no matter how Òmnium, ANC and AMI try to recover the lost independence unity and continue to promote the confrontation with the Kingdom of Spain.

In Catalonia, the antagonisms on the dialogue or negotiation table and even the surprising position of the Parliament of Catalonia on the unilateral declaration of independence show that there is no consensus. It is also clear that there is still not a sufficient social base to defend the DUI, while the differences between the Catalan pro-independence parties regarding the attitude to follow show that the pro-independence option needs time to move forward. In addition, and this is not a small thing, foreign support has only been given so far by parties and marginal groups of little importance, with which Puigdemont has not managed to be assigned to any parliamentary group of weight in the European Parliament. Thus the independence movement seeks a new narrative appropriate to what has been seen and that does not give rise to criticism of resignation or betrayal.

In Madrid, time is also required to iron out disagreements between the Government partners regarding the relationship between Catalonia and the rest of the country so as not to abruptly end the legislature.

It is an alley that seems to have no way out, but it is convenient for all those involved that European justice is as slow as possible in order to decide what can be done with Puigdemont, because nobody wants to reach a solution with winners and losers that could make unfeasible the current possibilities of dialogue and tolerance.

https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20211008/7776334/puigdemont-justicia-europea.html

OpenKat

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