Five years later, the ‘former minister’ and MEP of Junts Clara Ponsati He has returned to Catalonia this Tuesday. He has done it through the Perpinyà border and without turning himself in to the State authorities. Ponsatí has in force a arrest warrant in Spain for a crime of disobedience for the organization of the referendum on October 1, although it also has precautionary European Parliamentary immunity granted by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The news has been advanced by ACN and confirmed by EL PERIÓDICO.
In a press conference at the Col·legi de Periodistes held this afternoon, Ponsatí has assured that he will not make “any pact with the State” and that his intention is “to denounce the systematic violation of rights”. He has also explained that he will continue as a member of the European Parliament and that, with his European immunity, he considers that an arrest would be “illegal”. “If they stop me, they will have to attend to the consequences. I will exhaust all legal avenues and I will maintain my rights before the European courts,” she has settled.
The movement of the Junts MEP comes a few months after the reform of the Penal Code -with the repeal of sedition-, and also after the investigating judge Pablo Llarena issued a new order in which he was only charged with disobedience, a crime that does not carry a prison sentence. The same happened with the general secretary of ERC, Marta Rovira. On the other hand, in the case of his colleagues from the European seat, Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín, as well as that of the ‘ex-minister’ Lluís Puig, Llarena maintained the crime of embezzlement.
In the order in which he confirmed the prosecution of Puigdemont for disobedience and embezzlement and of Ponsatí only for the first crime, Llarena already responded to the ‘ex-minister’, now only prosecuted for disobedience, that she cannot suspend the national arrest warrant that weighs on her, because “the procedure is paralyzed by its mandatory action” and this requires “exhausting the legal mechanisms to overcome the concealment of any defendant for criminal responsibility”, such as ordering his arrest.
Last January, Ponsatí already warned that he would return to Catalonia “as soon as possible” and that he would not appear before the authorities, as he did not recognize the jurisdiction of Llarena. “Democratic guarantees in the State are never available. In my case, I have immunity and they should not arrest me. But we do not have 100% guarantees,” he assured then.
Junts sees his return as an “intelligent confrontation”
The general secretary of Juntas, Jordi Turull, has made public a video in which it shows “all the support” for Ponsatí and has considered this decision as an example of “intelligent confrontation” of sovereignism with respect to the State. “The minister has not committed any crime, the referendum was legitimate and with all the guarantees and no one should be prosecuted for having put the ballot boxes,” said Turull, who has demanded that the State not undertake any action that limits the freedom of Ponsati. “If Spain wants to be a full democracy, now it has the opportunity,” he added. In this sense, he has asked that the immunity of the MEP and former minister be maintained and that she not be arrested.
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Ponsatí was appointed ‘councillor’ of the Government of Carles Puigdemont a few months before October 1 and was entrusted with the ‘Educació’ folder, in charge of opening the schools to use them as voting centers. After the DUI, Ponsatí went to Belgium, where he received the first Eurowarrant for rebellion. Later, he moved to Scotland where he received the second and third Eurowarrants, already issued for the crime of sedition, with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Finally, after being chosen as an MEP, the Edinburgh court considered that she was no longer under her jurisdiction and terminated the process.
At the moment, it was pending before the Belgian courts, which are still waiting for the European courts to address a possible fourth Euro-order against the pro-independence leaders outside the State.