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The Spanish Supreme court has ruled that Catalan Separatist leader Oriol Junqueras should remain in pre-trial detention after rejecting the former Catalan vice president’s application for bail, due to insufficient evidence of the politician’s rejection of incriminating behavior.
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After spending more than two months in prison due to his role in Catalonia's independence movement, Junqueras will remain in police custody on allegations of rebellion, sedition, and embezzlement.
The three Supreme judges determined that Junqueras presents significant risk and should remain in pre-trial custody as there is no proof that he won’t repeat those crimes against him.
Despite his re-election to the regional parliament as the head of Catalonia’s Republican Left party (ERC) in December, the Spanish judicial authorities have prevented him from being sworn into office.
Defense attorney, Andreu Van den Eynde, said Wednesday in the case that the court denied his client’s appeals for bail, he would petition a transfer to Catalonia which would facilitate the politician’s involvement in plenary sessions of the regional parliament.
Van den Eynde argued the court’s denial, saying authorities are evading the real issues surrounding the case and upcoming trial, concentrating their efforts instead on Junqueras’s situation.
“What the Spanish prosecution did was to advance the judgment, I suppose their subconscious betrayed them because the only thing they want to do is judge Junqueras,” Van den Eynde said outside the court.
Despite the ruling, Junqueras has received continued support from the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and the Omnium Cultural who held a protest Thursday in Sant Vicenc calling for his release and that of his colleagues and fellow independence fighters Joaquim Forn, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart. Numerous members of Congress and former politicians also attended the rally.
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