Five representatives of the State in Catalonia have declined to appear before the Parliament's Interior Commission to give explanations about the expulsion of the Islamic leader Mohamed Said Badaoui -known as the 'imam' of Reus-, accused by the police of "pro-jihadist" activities.
This is the representative of the Government in Catalonia, Maria Eugènia Gay; the deputy delegate of the Government in Tarragona, Joan Sabaté Borràs; the superior chief of the National Police in Catalonia, Luis Fernando Pascual; the head of the General Information Office of the National Police in Catalonia and the Chief Commissioner of the Tarragona Provincial Office, José Miguel Cañete.
The five have renounced going to the commission, which approved the appearances at the initiative of ERC, Junts and the CUP, to clarify the reasons for the expulsion of the Moroccan activist decreed by the National Court at the request of the National Police Force. Likewise, both Gay and Sabaté were also summoned to "inform" and "expose their opinion" on cases of alleged police infiltration in pro-independence youth movements and organizations.
The five representatives of the State in the community have declined to appear in Parliament, arguing that they are not obliged to do so by virtue of an opinion of the Council of State of July 29, 1986. Pursuant to this resolution, they have informed the Bureau of the commission its decision stating that "the bodies of the General State Administration are not subject to the political control of autonomous legislatures, but exclusively of the Cortes Generales".
The president of the commission, Chakir el Homrani, announced the decision as soon as the session began and, although he did not want to enter into a legal debate on the reasons that led the five responsible to decline the request, he recalled that the Article 59.5 of the Statute "clearly indicates that they have the obligation to appear" in the case of State representatives acting in Catalonia. "We can interpret what it is to act or not in Catalonia", but "we are aware that it can be declined, it has been declined and we will not enter into legal discussions" he has accepted with a sneer.
The decision has provoked complaints from ERC, Junts and the CUP, which have attacked the State Government in the session. The anti-capitalist deputy Xavier Pellicer has described as "shameful" the actions of the State in the face of "facts as serious" as the "recognized infiltration" of police in pro-independence youth organizations and in the "opaque process of expulsion of a resident of Reus".
The deputy of Junts Pere Albó has considered "very serious that the demand of the Parliament is not met", especially from the Government delegate in Catalonia, and recalling the attitude of the director of the CNI in the European Parliament this Tuesday. "Spain is neither there nor is it expected or does not know or answer," she lamented.
From ERC, Carles Castillo has described as "scandalous and disappointing that the sovereignty of the people of Catalonia is not attended to even though there is no legal obligation". The deputy has praised Badaoui's career in Tarragona and has criticized the case of "espionage" and "infiltration".
The Badaoui case was the subject of debate in Parliament, which ended up approving a statement in which it expressed solidarity with the activist, president of the Association in Defense of the Muslim Community (Adedcom) of Reus and arrested, according to the parliamentary statement, in a "case of political repression and Islamophobia by the state".
Badaoui is in Morocco after being provisionally interned in a center for foreigners and the Police maintain that he preached an "almost combative Salafism" with radical speeches in which he presented women as "inferior" beings and encouraged young people to rebel against the Spanish institutions.
