In the midst of negotiations between the Boards of the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE, the National Court of Spain has charged the former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, and the general secretary of the ERC, Marta Rovira, in the investigation against the “Democratic Tsunami” movement. Convened by this movement, the judge investigates the existence of a crime of “terrorism” in the Fall 2019 protests. Another ten people who participated in the independence process in Catalonia have also been charged, and EH Bildu general coordinator Arnaldo Otegi has been called a witness.

In the court ruling that came out Judge Manuel García-Castellón argues that it is “accredited” that Carles Puigdemont participated in the sessions held in Geneva (Switzerland) on 29 and 31 August 2019, so the possibility of “voluntary declaration” should be offered: “Quoting Puigdemont is necessary to hear what he has to say about the actions”.

For the ERC, the charge of the party’s Secretary-General is an “aberrant” decision, as reported in the party’s social network X account. “It is a reaction of the reactionary powers of the State against amnesty,” he stresses. Puigdemont has also spoken before this decision: “It’s a permanent coup.”

Appeal by the Public Prosecutor's Office

For its part, the Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court has announced that it will file an appeal against Judge García-Castellón’s order, claiming that the action of the “Democratic Tsunami” movement “does not coincide with the crime of terrorism”. Moreover, the disappearance of the “sedition” as a result of the reform of the Penal Code, concludes that the issue should be prosecuted in the courts of Barcelona for “public disorder”.

Arnaldo Otegi as witness

Arnaldo Otegi, general coordinator of EH Bildu, has been appointed a witness by the court judge to give “instructions” on a meeting with Rovira in Geneva in 2019. Otegi has denounced that the charges and the appeal as witnesses are not a coincidence and has blamed the “deep state sectors” all the blame.