The Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has agreed to postpone the trial of the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, the deputy Josep Maria Jové and the current president of the Port of Barcelona, Lluís Salvadó, all of them ERC members, for the preparations for the referendum on October 1, given the coincidence of the dates of the oral hearing, which was supposed to start on April 10 and end on May 29, with the electoral campaign and beyond election day of May 12.
However, the Chamber, chaired by Jesús María Barrientos, has refused to suspend the trial due to the imminent approval of the Amnesty law, scheduled for the end of May, as requested by two of the accused.
In the processing of allegations, both Jové's defense and Garriga's defense showed the need to suspend the trial based on both the imminent approval of the Amnesty law and the convening of the electoral process coinciding with the trial sessions. Both the prosecutor and the State Attorney's Office and Vox, which exercises the popular prosecution, showed their opposition to the suspension of the trial due to the rule of criminal forgetfulness, although they did not oppose the suspension of the act to avoid its development coinciding with the electoral process. already summoned.
The court understands that the parliamentary processing of a proposed organic amnesty law cannot be a reason for suspension of the oral trial nor does it meet the consideration of a “just and proven” cause to decree the suspension of a term or a specific procedural action, according to the Criminal Procedure Law.
On the other hand, after verifying that both Jové and Garriga are part of Esquerra, a group that will compete in the elections to the Parliament on May 12, whose electoral campaign will begin on April 26, and that Vox, which exercises the popular accusation, will also participate, The court considers that the postponement of the oral trial "achieves a legitimate purpose, such as the avoidance of any interference or exploitation during the development of the electoral campaign, and does not affect or condition the procedural rights of the parties in terms that cannot be be rested with the rescheduling of the trial, once the risks considered as a certain and just cause for the postponement have been eliminated."
Esquerra Republicana has celebrated the postponement but has regretted that for the chamber it was not sufficient reason for the suspension nor the coincidence with the plenary sessions of the Parliament nor the next entry into force of the Amnesty law.
Josep Maria Jové is currently the president of the ERC group in the Parliament and was number two in Economy when the 1-O referendum was held. Lluís Salvadó was the Secretary of the Treasury and is currently the president of the port of Barcelona. Both are considered the architects of the State structures of the future independent Catalan State.
The Prosecutor's Office requests seven years in prison for both and six and a half years for the crimes of disobedience, prevarication and aggravated embezzlement and a disqualification of 32 and 27 years respectively.
Councilor Natàlia Garriga is accused of disobedience, which does not carry prison sentences, but does carry a year of disqualification and a fine of 18,000 euros.
