The decision of the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) to ban the CUP deputy Pau Juvillà from holding public office for six months for having left yellow ribbons hanging on the balcony of his office at the Lleida city council, when he was a councillor in that Catalan city, during the campaign for Spain's general election of April 2019, can only be understood in the framework of the continuing judicial repression against the Catalan independence movement. I doubt very much whether a person who arrived in Catalonia without a deep knowledge of the latent conflict between Catalonia and Spain would be able to make sense of this sort of judicial decision, even in a very general sense. The only explanation is that this is authority being exercised badly in order to convey an unequivocal message to the pro-independence world: we are still here. There may be some in Madrid who want to negotiate, reach agreement or enter into dialogue with the political power, but we, that is, the judges, are still here. Making everything related to the independence process pass through the checkpoint of repression.
The Parliament of Catalonia will now have to decide what it will do, or what it can do. Its speaker has been adamant that she will protect the seat of the CUP deputy - who is also the third secretary of the Catalan chamber's Bureau - until the court ruling is final. This would require a final pronouncement by the Supreme Court. But it may be the case that the Central Electoral Commission orders the immediate removal of the parliamentarian from his seat, as it did with president Quim Torra. This is where there is no clear outline of political action agreed by the pro-independence movement and Laura Borràs wants to distance herself from her predecessor, Roger Torrent - who Junts criticised in the past for not properly protecting the rights of the former president - and has affirmed that it will act based on the principle of preserving Juvillà's rights and freedoms.
The political nature of the trial can, in this case, scarcely be disputed, and it is only possible to understand the affair in the light of the enormous power that administrative bodies such as electoral commission wield and which position themselves as the spearhead of conflict creation. There can be no doubt that this is an act of freedom of expression, no matter how you look at it. We are talking about the displaying a yellow ribbon but, above all, about the disproportionate nature of the sentence. When one begins to realize that such a court decision can only be explained through its context as part of a fully-orchestrated process of political repression, carried to its ultimate consequences, it is extremely concerning.
In the midst of the storm over the future of the Catalan language in schools and the frontal attack on language immersion, we are presented with this new chapter of removal from public office of a member of the Catalan chamber. Still to arrive are further bans on former members of the Bureau, as well as trials in which more severe sentences will be sought, including imprisonment. And the sight of the Popular Party leader, Pablo Casado, asking prime minister Pedro Sánchez from Barcelona to start the procedures to impose direct rule on Catalonia again, through article 155. Saturday's demonstration organized by Somescola in defence of Catalonia's own language is more necessary than ever, as is the concert to be held in the Palau Sant Jordi that night, with Lluís Llach as the main attraction of the group of singers who will take part. Catalanism to the rescue of the language. As in the past. As always.