Catalan ex-official Oriol Junqueras testifies he is a ‘political prisoner’
- Junqueras faces up to 25 years behind bars if found guilty of rebellion and misuse of public funds
A former Catalan official accused by Spanish prosecutors of leading a violent rebellion to create an independent republic testified at a top court in Madrid on Thursday that he considers himself “a political prisoner”.
Oriol Junqueras, who was the vice-president of the Catalan Cabinet that went ahead with a banned secession referendum in October 2017, was the first of a dozen separatist leaders to testify in the much anticipated Supreme Court trial.
With ex-Catalan president Carles Puigdemont avoiding prosecution by fleeing to Belgium, Junqueras is the highest-ranking official prosecuted in the case. He faces up to 25 years behind bars if found guilty for rebellion and misuse of public funds.
Gesturing vividly with his hands and answering questions only from his lawyer, Junqueras emphatically rejected the charges and made a strong defence of the Catalan independence movement as non-violent.
“Any noble goal can be immoral if the mechanisms to achieve it are indecent,” he said. “This is valid for the Catalan republic, for the Spanish monarchy, for Europe or anything else.”
The leader of the Catalan left-wing pro-republic party had begun his testimony by telling the panel of seven judges that he is “being accused for my ideas and not for my deeds.” He also declined to answer questions by prosecutors because he regards the trial as a “political” one.