Jordi Sànchez's lawyer, Jordi Pina, is evaluating presenting a request for cautionary measures to the European Court of Human Rights to protect the rights of the candidate to the presidency of Catalonia.
Pina met this Wednesday afternoon with Sànchez's JxCat party and, separately, with the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent. Party sources have told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that, within 24 or 48 hours, they hope to know whether such an appeal will be made or not. Pina argued that Sànchez's situation is completely different to president Carles Puigdemont, as instead of being an exile in Belgium, he is being held prisoner by Spain.
In the meeting with JxCat, attended by the group's spokesperson, Elsa Artadi, and deputy spokesperson, Albert Batet, the lawyer explained that he's exploring all possible paths to force a decision from Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena in Sànchez's favour so that he can attend the investiture debate next Monday, even if he refuses full release. This morning the judge gave the parties involved, including the public prosecution, five days to present any comments on the applications for release from Sànchez, Joaquim Forn and Jordi Cuixart.
On Tuesday, Sànchez's defence had asked Llarena to either release him or give him permission to attend the investiture debate. Cuixart's lawyer also presented a filing on Tuesday for his release (after his testimony in court on 11th January), whilst Forn filed their new application on Monday.
Notification of the time limit for comments was given this Wednesday morning, but the count down only starts tomorrow. Because the weekend is included, the five days will therefore run out on Monday, the day the debate on investing Sànchez is called for. As such, this decision by the judge could affect the parliamentary calendar if the parties employ the full time limit.