The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has admitted for hearing the appeals of the nine pro-independence leaders convicted by the Spanish Supreme Court over the Catalan independence process which culminated in October 2017. And as a first step, the court has demanded that Spain answer six key questions which will help to resolve whether the fundamental rights of the seven men and two women were violated, for which it gives the Spanish state a deadline of January 12th, 2024. The nine Catalan political and civil leaders who presented the appeals were convicted in 2019 by the Spanish Supreme Court for sedition, and in some case also for misuse of public funds, in relation to the events centred on the October 1st referendum and the never-implemented declaration of independence made in response to its result, under the government of Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. The nine are the former Catalan vice-president and current president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras; former Catalan government ministers Dolors Bassa, Raül Romeva, Joaquim Forn, and Josep Rull; former minister and current general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull; former leader of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart; former leader of the ANC, Jordi Sànchez; and former speaker of Parliament, Carme Forcadell. The European High Court has brought together the nine appeals in one case.
The appeals, raised to the Human Rights Court after exhausting the recourse process in the Spanish justice system, assert that the nine leaders suffered violation of fundamental rights such as the rights to protest, free assembly and opinion, which are recognized in the European Charter of Human Rights, the document that governs the action of the Strasbourg court and which the member states of the Council of Europe, of which Spain is one, must comply with. In addition, the former leader of the ANC, Jordi Sànchez claims that he was convicted as a representative of a social entity, without belonging to the Catalan government.
Fundamental rights violated
The ECHR resolution, announcing the decision to admit the appeals for consideration, states that the convicted leaders have alleged that, among the rights violations they suffered, was Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that "no one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national or international law at the time when it was committed" and "nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the criminal offence was committed". In this regard, the defence lawyers are objecting to the Supreme Court's interpretation of the definitions of sedition and misuse of public funds. The Spanish court sentenced them to sentences of between nine and 13 years in prison, as well as bans on holiding public office for equivalent periods.
The pro-independence leaders have also laid complaints to the ECHR that they have been subject to violation of Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention, which refer to the rights of freedom of expression and assembly. Thus, as the resolution states, the Catalan leaders were convicted of sedition, but assert that "in reality, they had merely encouraged people to engage in demonstrations in defence of the independence process and to participate in a referendum on the independence of Catalonia". Some of the nine also stated that their rights under Article 5 of the Convention - relating to freedom and security - were breached, considering that the time they spent in prison was "disproportionate". And they also refer, among others aspects, to Article 6, which contemplates the right to a fair trial. Their complaints reached the ECHR after they exhausted the appeal process in Spain, with the last door being closed when the majority of the Constitutional Court denied their appeals for constitutional protection.
Of the six questions to which Spanish justice is required to respond by January 12th next year, the first four ask the Supreme Court to respond on the alleged violation of the convicted leaders' rights with regard to the above Articles: 7; 10 and 11; 5; and 6. A fifth question asks for Spain's response on the claim that the political leaders' convictions disproportionately interfered with their political rights, while the sixth relates to Article 18, under which "restrictions permitted under this Convention to the said rights and freedoms shall not be applied for any purpose other than those for which they have been prescribed". The pro-independence leaders saw this right violated with regard to all the previously-mentioned Articles, and Spanish justice is accordingly asked about the reason for the restrictions applied to the 9 leaders.
Turull stresses "impartiality" of the Human Rights court
The general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, was among the first to comment on the admission of the appeals by the ECHR: "We will see each other in the ECHR, where there is justice and impartiality, and not revenge and persecution of the independence movement", asserted the pro-independence leader, who was convicted for his actions as a minister of Puigdemont's government in the lead-up to October 1st 2017, and then - like the other eight - partially pardoned by the government of Pedro Sánchez in June 2021. For his part, ex-minister Rull was ironic, stating in a social media message that "the pardons (and those of others) do not happen by cosmic good luck", an apparent reference to how the Spanish government has only responded when it has faced pressure - in 2021, it came from the Council of Europe.
Els indults (i d’altres) no arriben per atzar còsmic.https://t.co/CdcQvIw9iJ
— Josep Rull i Andreu 🎗 (@joseprull) September 22, 2023
Banned from office for misuse of funds
It should be recalled that, this February, the Spanish Supreme Court reviewed the sentences of the nine convicted leaders following the penal reform that eliminated the crime of sedition and modified that of misuse of public funds. This review was limited to the sentences banning them from office, since the prison terms had already been pardoned by the Spanish government in 2021. In the case of Oriol Junqueras, the court decided to maintain his 13-year ban from office holding, which means that he will not be able to to aspire to public office until 2031, although the crime of sedition has been changed to the lesser offence of disobedience, and misuse of funds maintained.
For Romeva, Turull and Bassa, the Spanish court also decided to maintain the length of the ban from office they face for misuse of funds, ruling out a reduction in penalties by keeping the latter crime in its newly-defined aggravated form, under which they will continue to be disqualified until 2030. Meanwhile, in the Febuary ruling by the Spanish court, the offences for the two social leaders of 2017, Sànchez and Cuixart, were converted to crimes of public disorder, while those of Forcadell, Rull and Forn changed to disobedience. However, these changes of crime resulted in the total extinction of their respective bans from office.