Ponsatí plants the Supreme Court and alleges that today he has a job in the European Parliament

The 'procés' instructor was waiting for her at 11:00 to notify her of her prosecution for disobedience

The former Catalan counselor and MEP Clara Ponsatí has ​​not attended her appointment this Monday at 11:00 a.m. in the Supreme Court (TS), where the instructor of the 'procés', Pablo Llarena, was expected to inform her of her prosecution for a crime of disobedience for the illegal referendum of October 1, 2017, justifying his absence in that this April 24 he has a job in the European Parliament.

The magistrate of the Criminal Chamber of the TS summoned Ponsatí after he appeared in Barcelona on March 28, ignoring his obligation to appear before the court so that Llarena could notify him of his prosecution, take his statement and thus continue with the procedure. criminal, paralyzed until then for being a fugitive in Brussels.

That day, after being arrested by the Mossos d'Esquadra and taken before a court on duty in Barcelona, ​​​​by virtue of the national arrest warrant that was in force, Llarena agreed to release her and summon her for this Monday.

However, by 11:00 a.m. he has not appeared, something that his defense had already advanced in a brief presented shortly before in which he alleges "the notorious fact" that the Industry, Research and Energy commissions and the Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, of which Ponsatí is a member, have sessions called today in Brussels, something "incompatible with any commitment of any kind hundreds of kilometers from Brussels".

Ponsatí is a regular member of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE), which has a meeting this afternoon starting at 3:00 p.m., and a substitute member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), which resumes its activity after the plenary session last week this Monday from the same time.

In the letter, to which Europa Press has had access, his defense also insists that, "once the procedure for protection of the privileges and immunities" of Ponsatí has ​​begun, the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) "obliges the investigating magistrate to suspend the legal proceedings, in accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation", and, consequently, to "render the summons without effect".

To this, the defense adds that "several appeals are pending resolution that corroborate the illegality of this proceeding, the violation of different fundamental rights and that prove that neither the investigating magistrate nor that of this Criminal Chamber of the TS are the previously established court by the law".

His lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, had announced this morning on TV3 that Ponsatí would not appear in the Supreme Court. "I don't know if he's on his way to Brussels or if he's already there," he said. The MEP herself has published a 'tweet' minutes later with some images in which she says: "It rains in Flanders".

I WOULD REMAIN FREE

Legal sources consulted by Europa Press indicate that, after this sit-in, Llarena could return to the situation prior to March 28, reactivating the national arrest warrant and the declaration of rebellion.

In any case, it should be remembered that the judge annulled the European and international search and arrest warrants against Ponsatí and the other fugitives from 1-O, specifying that he could only reactivate them for the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and the former advisers Toni Comín and Lluis Puig, because after the penal reform that repealed sedition and modified embezzlement, they were the only ones accused of crimes that entailed jail time.

Another possible scenario is that, based on the justification given by Ponsatí's defense, Llarena gives him a second chance by setting a new date for the investigative statement.

The sources emphasize that, if Ponsatí appeared voluntarily, the instructor of the 'procés' would follow the same steps as with the former deputy of the CUP in Parliament Anna Gabriel and the former Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Meritxell Serret.

Serret appeared before the Supreme Court in March 2021 from Brussels and Gabriel did so last July from Switzerland. Then, the magistrate informed them of their prosecution and released them, summoning them for the preliminary investigation. After giving a statement, both remained at large.

In the most recent case of Gabriel, shortly after the 'procés' instructor ended the investigation and the Criminal Chamber sent the case to the Provincial Court of Barcelona, ​​considering that it is the competent body, given that the former deputy of the CUP no longer enjoys the status of registered.

However, in this extreme the situation of Ponsatí is different. The condition of her MEP places the competence in the Supreme Court, unless she leaves office before the oral trial is opened.

BENEFITED BY PENAL REFORM

Ponsatí's criminal horizon cleared up after the entry into force on January 12 of the criminal reform that repealed sedition and modified embezzlement, forcing Llarena to review the processing of those fleeing the 'procés'.

Until that moment, the former counselor was prosecuted for sedition, so the disappearance of this crime - punishable by between 10 and 15 years in prison and disqualification - led Llarena to replace it with that of disobedience, punishable with a fine of 3 to 12 months and disqualification from 6 months to 2 years.

Although both the Prosecutor's Office and the State Attorney's Office requested the investigator to add the new crime of aggravated public disorder, with penalties of 3 to 5 years in prison and 6 to 8 years of disqualification, Llarena rejected it.