Spanish court finds Catalan leaders guilty - Greens/EFA call for political solution
Catalan crisis
Today, the Spanish Supreme Court has found Catalan leaders, including Greens/EFA MEP Oriol Junqueras and the former Greens/EFA MEP Raül Romeva, guilty of sedition and missuse of funds and handed down sentences of up to 13 years. This ruling comes ahead of a hearing at the European Court of Justice that may have established the immunity of Oriol Junqueras as an elected MEP. The Greens/EFA group call for a political solution.
Ska Keller, President of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, comments:
"After two years of unfair pre-trial detention, we consider the rulling of the Supreme Court against our MEP Oriol Junqueras and the other Catalan leaders made public today as disproportionate and will only serve to deepen the political crisis in Catalonia. The situation in Catalonia requires a political solution and should not be dealt through the courts.
"After this sentence, we urgently call on the Spanish government to work to free the political leaders sentenced using the most effective legal means. There can be no political solution for the Catalan crisis with political leaders imprisoned.
"There is an urgent need for a political solution to a political problem. Negotiation and politics should prevail and we call on the Catalan and Spanish authorities to engage in sincere dialogue to build new agreements."
