Atenes, a group of lawyers, has filed a lawsuit against former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, his entire cabinet and the Constitutional Court for having prevented Carles Puigdemont from being invested Catalan president at a distance. They are all accused of malfeasance and crimes against the exercise of civil rights recognised by the Spanish Constitution.
According to the lawsuit, the lawyers want criminal proceedings opened against those named for carrying out a "plan to prevent the investiture of the democratically elected candidate" following the election on 21st December last year, meaning the "violating of the political and electoral rights recognised in the Spanish Constitution".
The plaintiffs say the then Spanish government and the Constitutional Court prevented Puigdemont's investiture "with unjust decisions and resolutions" which broke "one of the constitutional guarantees which are the backbone of the rule of law", namely the right of citizens to take part in public life "directly or via representatives elected freely in periodic elections".
The lawsuit, which notes that Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya's electoral list "was not challenged by any political party, nor by the Spanish government", calls for those it names to be summonsed to court to testify.
The Atenes group also ask for the court to subpoena the telephone communications made by the accused between 24th and 27th January and require a security of 4,392,891 euros, or one euro per voter, arguing that blocking Puigdemont's investiture meant the disqualification of the elections results.
Complaint against Lamela
The same group denounced, earlier this month, the General Council of the Judiciary's nomination of judge Carmen Lamela to the second chamber of the Supreme Court, believing her to "have no merits nor abilities accredited for the role". Lamela was the first judge to investigate the Catalan independence case.
On that occasion, they complained that the official statement announcing her nomination did not mention her participation in a special case relating to the "persecution and decreeing of pretrial detention for Catalan politicians in favour of independence".