The substitution of the crime of sedition for one of aggravated public disorder…
The crime of sedition is repealed, it is suppressed, it disappears, it disintegrates, it is pulverized, it does not exist, it will not exist… And that is a truth like a temple. The crime of public disorder does not replace sedition in any case, because what it does is reform the already existing crime of public disorder and it does so in the direction of reducing penalties, limiting the cases in which it can be applied and defining the violence concept. Therefore, in the crime of public disorder there is a great advance.
And why has the repeal of the crime of rebellion not been addressed?
It is that the rebellion applies to uniformed men with weapons. No one has seen the need to reform this aspect, because we are neither uniformed nor carry weapons. The accusation of rebellion was made only to keep us in preventive detention and prevent us from being able to carry out the positions for which the citizens had elected us.
With the new Penal Code in hand, would 1-O have been a crime?
The 1-O was not a crime with the current Penal Code nor with the one that comes out of the parliamentary process. Of course, from now on interpretive abuses will be more difficult. Remember that the Constitutional Court issued three dissenting votes when it resolved our appeals where it was stated that ‘from the reading that condemns Oriol Junqueras it is impossible to deduce for what reason he has been convicted because none of the crimes imputed to him is a crime in the Code Penal’.
Does the pact for sedition reduce the chances of success of its resources before the European justice?
On the contrary. The fact that the State recognizes that the Criminal Code must be reformed to adapt it to the demands that come from international organizations demonstrates the great reason that assists us when we present appeals in the European sphere. The chances are increasing that everyone in Europe understands that the interpretation of the Penal Code from which we were sentenced is absolutely forced and contrary to law.
What tempos are managed to reform the crime of embezzlement?
This will be seen during the parliamentary process and we hope that this crime will also be adapted, since the embezzlement that is imputed to us is an embezzlement by thought, only thought. And crimes by thought are crimes that should have disappeared according to the Philosophy of Law, since the eighteenth century.
And how will the reform of this crime be approached to avoid protecting corruption?
We believe that it is possible because what we are accused of is not embezzlement, but having thought of a possible allocation of public funds to organize a referendum. What must be avoided is that someone be condemned for ‘thinking’ of embezzlement, in no way protecting any type of corruption.
Do you think that Junts criticizes the fruits that ERC achieves from the dialogue table, but then benefits from them?
If the independence movement as a whole helped us address the great pending issues, we would be much closer to the Catalan Republic.
Is there any option that you can be a candidate for the general elections or for Parliament?
I don’t know and everyone doesn’t know. Because we do not know how long it will take for the Supreme Court to correct the sentence that it issued in application of the reform of the Penal Code.
The way has been paved for the return of Carles Puigdemont and Marta Rovira, do you expect them soon in Catalonia?
The path for this return has not been paved to the extent that, for example, Marta Rovira is still accused of an absolutely amazing crime, which is rebellion. As long as the Supreme Court upholds this accusation, which is obviously contrary to common sense, among other reasons, because we were never convicted of rebellion, return is impossible.
Is this pact the culmination of the chapter of the dialogue table related to dejudicialization and that now the right to decide can be addressed?
Surely there is still a long way to go, but it is also clear that we are working to make a referendum possible.
Now that the Socialists have shown their commitment to dejudicialization, do you think that the Catalan budgets can already be agreed with the PSC?
We will see in the parliamentary process the exact level of commitment of the Socialists, also in terms of the reform of the crime of embezzlement.
Have the Socialists stopped ‘skinning their hands applauding your imprisonment’, as you yourself described a few weeks ago?
Certainly they enthusiastically applauded the imprisonment and persecution, but it is also true that on the issue of sedition and crimes of public disorder their position is much more in line with what international organizations say and what we have always defended.
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Why are relations with the PSC not normalized as a partner in Catalonia if there is a pact situation with the PSOE?
Because the PSC, until now, has not shown this commitment to the fight against repression and, therefore, it is very difficult to agree with someone who does not prioritize the well-being of Catalan society as a whole, in all its aspects, among others , the defense of fundamental rights.