Judge sends Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, 7 ministers to prison without bail
Source: El Catalan Nat
A judge from Spain's National Audience court, Carmen Lamela, has without hesitation sent to prison Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras and ministers Jordi Turull (Presidency), Josep Rull (Territory), Raül Romeva (Foreign Affairs), Joaquim Forn (Interior), Carles Mundó (Justice), Dolors Bassa (Work) and Meritxell Borràs (Governance). They have not been offered bail. As expected, the public prosecutor had requested maximum penalties for the Catalan government and the judge accepted them.
The judge, in her order, says that "the measure of prison pending trial is appropriate, reasonable and propocional".
For minister Santi Vila (Business), meanwhile, the decision is lighter. The public prosecutor asked for bail of 50,000 euros in exchange for him not going to prison. Until he pays, however, he will go to prison too. Vila resigned last Friday evening after learning that president Carles Puigdemont was not going to call elections.
The judge argues that his resignation means that he cannot reoffend. In her order, Lamela writes that as it came the day before the unilateral declaration of independence, "it shows his wish against consummating the secessionist attempt".
Read more: http://www.elnacional.cat/en/news/judge-vice-president-junqueras-catalan-ministers-prison_208521_102.html
(Note: If you're wondering why the English here seems idiosyncratic to say the least, The site appears to have auto-translated the article from Catalan).
