Spanish judge Manuel García-Castellón has ordered the Civil Guard to locate Ruben Wagensberg, Catalan Republican Left (ERC) deputy and member of the Catalan Parliament's Bureau, as a person under investigation for terrorism in the Democratic Tsunami case. The judge of the National Audience criminal court has asked the Civil Guard to check his current location through his address and place of work. Wagensberg announced last week that he is in Switzerland to protect himself from being persecuted by Spanish justice, which has caused him psychological problems. In Geneva, the ERC parliamentarian is also seeking advice from organizations and lawyers over the case. For the moment, he has not wanted to define his situation as "exile".
Wagensberg is one of the twelve people linked to the Catalan independence movement under investigation for terrorism by the National Audience, along with president Carles Puigdemont and ERC secretary general Marta Rovira, in a court investigation that followed the 2019 protests over the sentencing of the Catalan political leaders, especiallly those at Barcelona-El Prat airport and the border crossing at La Jonquera. In fact, this Sunday, the Supreme Court prosecutor came out against the investigation of Puigdemont for a crime of terrorism in the Supreme Court, thus opposing the position of judge García-Castellón.
More García-Castellón decisions
García-Castellón made this Monday's decision public in a resolution in which he agreed to undertake various investigative actions in the Tsunami case. In addition to ordering the Civil Guard to locate Wagensberg, he ordered a request for information from the Spanish Air Safety Agency related to the demonstrations at El Prat airport. He also ordered that these demonstrations be reported to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) so that it can also certify whether any action has been taken in this regard.
In the meantime, the National Audience judge is awaiting the Supreme Court's decision on whether or not to accept his argument and undertake the Tsunami investigation. The reason for sending the case to the Supreme Court is that both president Puigdemont and Wagensberg are parliamentary representatives and can thus only be tried by higher courts and with special permission. In fact, the ERC deputy defends that the competence to investigate him rests with the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC).
It is for this reason that neither Wagensberg nor Puigdemont have the status of officially accused, as the other ten do. In fact, in November 2023, the judge already sent a request for international help to the Swiss authorities to locate Marta Rovira. However, the judge left in abeyance the request regarding the general secretary of ERC, after the ERC deputy appeared in the National Audience.