The trial for disobedience against Roger Torrent and the former Parliamentary Board begins

The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia begins today to judge the former president of the Parliament, Roger Torrent, and the pro-independence members of the Table of the last legislature accused of disobeying the Constitutional Court.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
04 October 2022 Tuesday 23:30
10 Reads
The trial for disobedience against Roger Torrent and the former Parliamentary Board begins

The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia begins today to judge the former president of the Parliament, Roger Torrent, and the pro-independence members of the Table of the last legislature accused of disobeying the Constitutional Court. The call is set for today, all the accused will appear, but it is not at all clear that the trial will take place. The prosecution filed an incident of annulment against the disqualification of a magistrate and it is pending that this request be admitted, so the defendants have requested that the hearing be suspended pending resolution of the issue. The forecast, however, is that the trial starts.

The Prosecutor's Office requests a year and eight months of disqualification and a 30,000 euro fine for former President Roger Torrent for having disobeyed the Constitutional Court that vetoed the processing of two resolutions; one in favor of the right of self-determination and another, of disapproval of the Monarchy. The same penalty is requested for the former first vice president, Josep Costa, and for the former first secretary, Eusebi Campdepadrós, both from Junts. For the former fourth secretary, Adriana Delgado, (ERC) claims 16 months of disqualification and a fine of 24,000 euros.

The cause has been marked by the firm opposition that Josep Costa has shown in this procedure, which he does not recognize. The former first vice president of the Chamber was arrested at the request of the TSJC to appear before Judge Maria Eugènia Alegret, whom she left standing the day she officially summoned him. After refusing to testify, he initiated two proceedings to challenge two of the three magistrates who initially made up the court. And he did it. The president of the TSJC, Jesús María Barrientos, was removed when he considered that there were doubts about his impartiality after in 2018 he stood up and left Roger Torrent standing as a sign of protest while giving a speech at the Bar Association in which he wore a bow yellow on the flap. The court agreed to separate him from the procedure with this argument: "We do not doubt the impartiality of His Excellency Mr. Barrientos, but that we do not doubt it does not mean that there are no serious and well-founded reasons why the challenger fundamentally, and also part of society, may have them." ".

Costa also demanded that Judge Carlos Ramos be removed because he had been appointed at the proposal of the PSC. And he got it too. The court also accepted it, emphasizing that "it has never questioned Ramos's professional prestige but understands that his reports" may arouse in the recusant and also in part of society, the legitimate suspicion of a lack of impartiality.

However, this has not been the last episode of Josep Costa. The leader of Junts, as a lawyer, decided to defend himself but in anticipation that he would not appear in court, the TSJC assigned him a court-appointed lawyer. Costa appealed the decision and the court again agreed with him, justifying that the measure had "a preventive nature and could interfere with the right to freely appoint a lawyer."