Switzerland refuses to give information to the 'Tsunami' judge about Rovira because it doubts whether the investigation is political

He wants to know how the amnesty law being processed may affect those investigated in this case.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice has sent a letter to the judge of the 'Democratic Tsunami' case, Manuel García Castellón, through the Ministry of Justice, in which it refuses to assist him in locating the general secretary of ERC Marta Rovira and in obtaining banking information related to the platform because it understands that it must first decide if there is a political nature in the request.

In a document dated last December, to which Europa Press has had access, the Swiss authorities request information on how the amnesty law being processed in the Congress of Deputies may affect "several Catalan separatists" in this case in concrete.

"It would be convenient, among other things, for you to explain to us the possible consequences of this law on the procedures initiated against the members of the Tsunami Democràtic platform, as well as against Ms. Rovira, whose membership in said platform is not clear," they explain.

In this way, Switzerland suspends the assistance requested by the magistrate until Spain and specifically the National Court answers its questions because it understands, after "examining with the utmost attention" the rogatory commission, that the content is very similar to that of 3 December 2019 which already resulted in a denial of assistance.

Specifically, he explains that before "proceeding with the processing" of the letter rogatory and to check whether it "has a political character" that "would prevent assistance from being granted under Swiss legislation on mutual assistance in criminal matters", he needs to know Why does García Castellón want to know Rovira's whereabouts and why does he do it through this channel when this measure can be carried out through the simplified police cooperation procedure.

Regarding the request for banking information, the Swiss authorities ask "why movements are requested in the account in question until June 2020, to the extent that the events organized at the respective airports of Barcelona and Madrid that were supposed to have received financial support through the aforementioned account had taken place on October 14, 2019."

"On a more general level, also from the point of view of the principle of proportionality, we would like to know the exact relationship between Mrs. Rovira, the object of both the criminal investigation and one of the mutual assistance measures, and the demonstrations at the two airports mentioned that constitute the events described in the letter rogatory," they add.

Along these lines, he also wants to know the exact relationship between Rovira and the demonstrations at the El Prat and Barajas airports that are mentioned in the rogatory commission. For Switzerland, it is important to know the precise involvement of Rovira in these events "and more specifically in the actions taken against Spanish officials and looting committed in this context."

THE RESPONSE OF 2020

Already in 2020, the Swiss judicial authorities refused to provide legal assistance to Spain in the case being heard in the National Court on 'Democratic Tsunami', understanding that the procedure has "a preponderant political nature."

In the response that the Swiss country gave to the Central Court of Instruction number 6, to which Europa Press had access, it was indicated that the European agreement that governs relations between both countries provides that legal assistance may be denied "if the request refers to violations considered by the requested party as political violations or as violations related to political violations."