The seventeen senior Catalan officials charged with misuse of public funds relating to the 2017 referendum have provided the court with the remaining 2.1 million euros (£1.9 million; $2.3 million) of the "civil responsibility deposit" set by the judge handling the case in Barcelona. The deposit, for a total of 5.8 million euros, is to ensure the money is in place to cover any potential eventual fine they might be sentenced to pay if found guilty.
The total was met thanks to contributions from members of the public to the "Solidarity Fund", set up to help officials and politicians convicted for their roles in the independence push meet any financial penalties. This was supplemented by contributions from pro-independence political parties and the confiscation of the defendants' property. The Fund tweeted the news, but said that "although we've momentarily solved the problem, we continue to need money to revoke the confiscations".
S’acaba de dipositar al Jutjat núm 13 la quantitat de 2.135.948,16€ que completen els 5.800.000’-€ de fiança que es reclamava a 17 persones. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/s1TRqypKy8
— Caixa de Solidaritat (@DeSolidaritat) 23 de maig de 2019
Initially, the defendants had given the court almost 3.7 million euros from the Solidarity Fund. They appealed the remaining amount, arguing it was equivalent to the 2.1 million the Supreme Court required the politicians it is trying to deposit.
Outstanding appeal
Without waiting for the judge to rule on the appeal, the clerk in Barcelona's investigating court number 13, Montserrat del Toro, yesterday ordered the seizure of the defendants' current accounts to cover the remaining millions. As it happens, del Toro's testimony on the events of 20th September 2017 was key to charging the imprisoned politicians with rebellion. Defence counsel appealed her order from yesterday arguing that it should be the judge, not the clerk, who makes such judgements.