Clara Ponsati released after refusing to testify

Former minister and MEP of Gontes, Clara Ponsati, was released at 2:49pm from the Ciutat de la Justícia de Barcelona, ​​after refusing to testify, when she was arrested on Monday due to a search and arrest warrant that was outstanding due to her participation in 1-O.

Upon his departure, Ponsati explained that, on the recommendation of his lawyer, he did not answer questions that Supreme Court coach Pablo Larena had sent to the duty judge in Barcelona.

Investigating magistrate into cause practicalPablo Larena had ordered that an investigative statement be taken from Clara Ponsati, again arrested this morning by Mossos de Escuadra, in a duty court in Barcelona and set free. The former minister and current MEP returned to Barcelona on Monday despite a national arrest warrant issued in June.

Ponsati revealed for the first time his presence in Barcelona this morning through his Twitter account, and then his arrest, which he described as “illegal”. “Taking advantage of the morning’s coolness, I made a trip to Casa Vicenç. And while we’re here, Catalonia will keep standing. Good morning, Barcelona!” Read his first tweet.

The Mossos explain that Ponsatí had been arrested on Calle Compte Borrell in Barcelona. According to sources close to MEPs citing the ANC, Ponsati will be transferred to City of Justice in Barcelona.

In an order, the coach agreed that the Court of the Catalan capital will be responsible for the execution of the investigative statement, as a step after the notification of the allegation.

Thus, Larena avoided having to be transferred to Madrid to testify before the Supreme Court or allow her to be called back to carry out the statement. A warrant was issued for Ponsati’s arrest due to her refusal to attend the court summons informing her that she would be tried only for the offense of insubordination, once the sedition offense was quashed.

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Today in a car, the examining magistrate agreed that it is the Court of the Guard of Barcelona that takes the investigative statement to Ponsati. He attached to the decision a list of questions addressed to the former minister in this process, and adds that the detainee must then be released, leaving the arrest warrant agreed upon at that time without effect.

Judge Larena makes the decision “considering that the defendant’s reluctance to submit to the inevitable investigative statement invalidates any attempt at subpoena aimed at her appearing freely,” but also acknowledges that police access to the Supreme Court means an extension of her deprivation of liberty for a crime for which there are no penalties of this kind.

Larena issued a national arrest warrant against Ponsati on June 21 once he verified that the former education minister had not been excused at the time for legitimate reasons. He did not appear before the judge at the end of April To give an investigative statement of the offense of insubordination for which he was prosecuted.

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Former advisor to Carles Puigdemont He returned to Spain in March Since his self-exile in Brussels and Scotland since 2017 by subsequently changing his procedural status Amending the Penal Code, which abolished the crime of sedition at the end of 2022 For which she was tried and sentenced to long prison terms. Llarena sued Ponsatí this year for insubordination that entails only a penalty of disqualification, and for which there is no scope for a European injunction.

On 24 April, Ponsati did not attend Larena’s recall, claiming that on the same day he had two commitments in Brussels that “contradicted” his Madrid summons.

Failing to appear, the examining magistrate consulted the prosecutor’s office and the prosecutor’s office, who were inclined to call Ponsati back, although Larena finally chose to issue a national arrest warrant against her with a view to making her available to the court and informing her of her prosecution.

Regarding the parliamentary obligations he claimed not to attend, Larena stressed that Ponsati was summoned to appear before the Supreme Court on the morning of April 24, while the political obligations he claimed were scheduled for the afternoon, reasonably compatible by videoconference request.

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Charlotte Gwendal