Quim Torra, sworn in May 17 as Catalan's 131st president...
The new Catalan president was appointed by Carles Puigdemont who currently awaits in Berlin for a court decision on whether he will be extradited back to Spain. Quim Torra claims that he is only a "caretaker president" until Carles Puigdemont the legitimate president returns.
He was sworn in during a small ceremony in Barcelona on Thursday. Saturday, Torra had named 13 "advisors" to his government of which included jailed and exiled officials. Of those announced were Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Toni Comin, and Lluis Puig. Turull and Rull have already accepted their nominations via twitter.
In response a member of the ruling party in Spain, the People's Party (PP), Xavier Garcia Arbiol put a statement out on twitter, "the composition of the new (Catalan government) is a clear message that they want to continue with the problems, the conflict and provocation".
Quim Torra has been hit with new and old charges the past few days for being anti-Spanish and a sort of Catalan "supremacist", "xenophobe" and was even criticized by a Catalan anti-racist group as well. They charged him for repeatedly using "a dangerous, irresponsible and unacceptable discourse, based on prejudices".
This seems to be very much in line with what many other nationalist leaders face today as they are asserting and fighting for the sovereignty of their country's. The war between nationalism and globalism is heating up all around the world.
Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy has said he will maintain control over Catalan until there is a full and legal government, yet he has prevented many officials including their president to do so since they declared independence last October. The Madrid government Saturday also denounced Torra's moves as further 'provocation'.
Though the German courts have released Carles Puigdemont on bail as of last month, since then Madrid has provided more evidence which they hope will prove his "violent rebellion" and staging a referendum for independence which Spanish courts have deemed 'unconstitutional'.
Toni Comin and Lluis Puig, who also nominated to Torra, had fled to Belgium with the deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. In October of last year, they fled hours before the Spanish attorney general asked for charges of "rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds" to be placed upon them for their prior involvement in the Country's decision in declaring its independence from Spain.
Carles Puigdemont speaks out from Berlin...
On March 25, on his way back from a conference in Finland, Carles Puigdemont was arrested crossing into Germany. He is free to move within Germany as long he notifies authorities and every Tuesday he is to report to a Berlin police station while he awaits the decision on his extradition.
Two days ago Carles Puigdemont was interviewed by an Australian journalist Sally Williams, in regards to the future he stated, "The most realistic option is not to have a plan for the future. In the worst case, I will be extradited to Spain. That means my future will be clear: decades in jail. If not, probably I will spend a lot of years in exile."
In the personal interview Puigdemont's also explains "I don’t want to be martyr. I want to be a fighter. I don’t see myself as a hero, I am an accidental leader. My wish was never to do national politics. I was a last-minute and accidental arrival through the back door."
At the moment, nine of Carles' former colleagues which include Jordi Turull, his former chief of staff, and MP Jordi Sánchez have been imprisoned in Madrid more than 600km from Catalonia without bail.
News from Belgium...
Last Wednesday, the Spanish courts were dealt a legal blow in that they were refused the Catalan ministers Meritxell Serret, Toni Comin and Lluís Puig. The Belgian prosecutors confirmed that the extraditions were denied due to errors in the warrant, which were issued by a Spanish judge in March.
Comin made a comment to the media in reference to the Belgian court's decision and criticized the abuse of the European penal code by the Spanish judge stating "Justice has been done. We want to give a constructive message to the Supreme Court and the [Spanish] state: Europe is saying it's abusing the system of European Arrest Warrants and the Penal Code. Enough".
This has given some hope to Puigdemont's lawyer as he acknowledges the German courts could possibly follow this example made by the Belgian courts.
My prayers go out to the Catalans who are asserting their rights to govern themselves. This legal war could soon escalate even further as the Spanish authorities fail to cede territory and power of Catalan.
Sources
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