The spokesman for Esquerra Republicana in the Congress of Deputies, Gabriel Rufián, refuses to confirm whether the reform of the crime of embezzlement will lead to a reduction in sentences for the leaders convicted of 1-O and the rest of the politicians and charges that continue with open cases Because it will depend, he says, on the interpretation of the judges. "I cannot guarantee what Marchena and company are going to do," Rufián admitted.
At a press conference in Congress, the Republican censured the attitude of the Spanish judiciary, which in his opinion "has declared war" on various parties and ideologies. In view of the fact that the judges can make a different reading of the intention of the legislators with this reform of the Criminal Code, Rufián has criticized that politicians are held responsible for the "misleading interpretations" of the judiciary.
The ERC leader in Madrid has insisted that Catalan is a "political conflict", which must be addressed as such and not in court. The crime of embezzlement, if everything progresses as planned, will differentiate from now on the cases in which there is a profit motive and those that are not, with lower penalties in this second case. Gabriel Rufián has defended this modification, highlighting that the comparison of corruption cases such as the Gürtel or the Púnica with a self-determination referendum "is not sustained, neither intellectually nor politically."
After the reform of the Criminal Code has received the green light both in Congress and in the Senate, it remains to be seen how the sentences of those convicted of 1-O remain. It will also remain pending to know how it affects the former president Carles Puigdemont and the rest of the leaders who live abroad and the former senior government officials who are waiting for the start of their process in court number 13 of Barcelona for the preparations for the referendum. Even so, Rufián assures that the negotiation has not focused on personal situations and that this modification "has been thought more about future generations and events" than in current or past cases.
The agreement between PSOE and ERC, key for the Republicans to be able to show results in their de-judicialization strategy, comes with approximately one year to go before the general elections. Why is it approved now? According to Rufián, because the legislative agenda has been marking the course of events and "because what remains remains." The Republican spokesman also believes that Pedro Sánchez "knows that it is a political conflict" and that, furthermore, he needs the support of the Catalan parties to govern. "The PSOE knows that it has never been sustained in Moncloa without Catalonia", he has sentenced.
Despite the fact that it has jumped into the media showcase in recent weeks, this penal modification has not been made "in four days", but there has been, explained Rufián, an "important" previous work carried out with a certain discretion, until rose to public debate. The Republican has reproached the Socialists precisely for having a way of working that implies having "a tremendous media focus" on the negotiations.
Regarding the position of United We Can, which this Monday distanced itself from the conversations between socialists and republicans, Rufián sees it as "strange", because he says that this formation had shown a different attitude in the previous days.
