The instructor of the cause of the ‘procés’ in the Supreme Court, Pablo Llarenahas issued the summary order regarding the MEP and ‘former Minister of Education’ Clara Ponsatí for her responsibility in 1-O. The magistrate has adopted this decision once this Monday an investigative statement was taken from him in the court on duty in Barcelona. This procedure, in which Ponsatí refused to answer any questions, was essential to refer the proceedings to the Chamber for the trial to be held.
In his order, the judge indicates that, once the necessary procedures have been carried out, no further investigation is considered necessary, and it is appropriate to conclude the summary regarding it, sending testimony of the case to the Second Chamber of the high court. Until now The Supreme Court has not tried any of those accused of the illegal referendum who were only accused of disobedience, as it happens with Ponsatí after the repeal of sedition and the reform of embezzlement. although she is MEP and therefore has the same privileges as Spanish deputies and senators, who can only be investigated and tried by the high court.
The actions followed only for disobedience were referred by the Supreme to the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, in the case of the deputies of Parliament and therefore registered, or to the ordinary investigative courts. This was the case with those who were members of the Parliamentary Bureau under the presidency of Carme Forcadell, who have been tried twice by the TSJC, and with those who also fled, but who later made themselves available to the Supreme Court, Meritxell Serret and Anna Gabriel.
force arrest
Ponsatí, unlike the two of them, opted to force his arrest, despite having been able to regularize his judicial situation the first time he returned to Spain after the reform of the Penal Code and only being prosecuted for disobedience, which, since he was not punished with prison, did not pose any risk of imprisonment. The MEP, prosecuted in absentia in March 2018, long before acquiring her MEP status, she did not go directly to the Supreme Court, but rather walked around Barcelona until she was arrested by the Mossos in front of the cameras.
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After that, she was summoned in the Supreme Court to appear on April 24, but she did not attend, forcing the magistrate to re-issue a national arrest warrant against her, which was the one that caused his arrest this Monday. In order to avoid prolonging his arrest longer than is strictly necessary, Judge Llarena ordered that the essential investigative statement be made to conclude the investigation in the Barcelona courts. He sent his questions by exhortation without having to transfer it to the headquarters of the high court in Madrid.
Before the Barcelona duty judge, Ponsatí refused to refute the arguments of the prosecution against her, but, despite this refusal, the procedure is considered fulfilled, because she has had the opportunity to testify and waiving to do so is part of her right of defense. This has allowed Llarena to conclude the summary.