\n
<\/p>\n
The findings by the group of independent human rights experts were <\/span>published<\/span><\/span> after revision of a complaint filed by Oriol Junqueras i Vies, former Vice-President of Catalonia, and three former ministers, Ra\u00fcl Romeva i Rueda, Josep Rull i Andreu and Jordi Turull i Negre.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>four former Catalan separatist leaders were suspended from public duties prior to their convictions<\/span><\/strong> over the region\u2019s 2017 bid for independence, and prosecuted for the crime of rebellion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Parliament of Catalonia passed a law authorising a referendum on Catalonia’s independence, in September 2017. Despite the Constitutional Court\u2019s suspension order and police intervention, the referendum went ahead on 1 October.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In mid-October, Spain\u2019s Constitutional Court ruled that both the law and the referendum were unconstitutional, null and void.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, the <\/span>Catalonian Parliament declared independence and was thus immediately dissolved<\/span><\/strong> by the Government of Spain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. Junqueras and the three ministers were prosecuted, together with other officials, for the crime of rebellion, which entails a call for a violent uprising against the constitutional order, the group of experts said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Committee took an important step in affirming that the safeguards against the restrictions of political rights must be applied more rigorously if these restrictions occur prior to, rather than after, a conviction for an offence,\u201d said Committee member H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Tigroudja.<\/span><\/p>\n Taking note that the four complainants had urged the public to remain strictly peaceful, the Committee considered that the decision to charge them with the crime of rebellion, which led to their automatic suspension prior to a conviction, was not foreseeable and therefore not based on reasonable and objective grounds provided for by law.<\/span><\/p>\n The Criminal Procedure Act only allows the suspension of officials when they are charged with rebellion. Nevertheless, they were suspended from their functions as Members of Parliament in July 2018, the Committee reiterated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During their pretrial detention, the four former Parliament members brought their case to the Committee of independent UN-appointed experts, alleging that their suspension from public duties, prior to any conviction violated their political rights under Article 25 of the <\/span>International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\nCatalonia\u2019s independence\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Crime of rebellion\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
Suspension\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n