The Spanish government, through the Tax Office, has required Catalan pro-independence organisations ANC and Òmnium Cultural to pay 110,000€ each (£97,000, $132,000) in a penalty from AEDP (Spanish Agency of Data Protection). The total comes from the 90,000€ fine they refused to pay in March 2017 (in Catalan), plus interest and charges.
The Tax Office thereby realises the fine from the AEDP, despite there being an open appeal against it before the National Audience court. Òmnium will appeal the sanction to Europe.
L'Estat espanyol ha embargat a @omnium 110.000 € en un intent més de debilitar-nos.
— Òmnium Cultural (@omnium) 3 de mayo de 2018
Es tracta de la multa imposada per l’AEDP al 2017. Un exemple més de la persecució política i la repressió que estem vivint.
Ajuda'ns a fer-hi front amb un donatiu https://t.co/LM8AUX43DT
Translation: The Spanish state has confiscated 110,000€ from Òmnium in another attempt to weaken us. It's a fine imposed by AEDP in 2017. Another example of the political persecution and repression we're experiencing. Help up deal with this with a donation.
L'Estat espanyol ens ha embargat 110.000€, un intent més d'afeblir-nos Un exemple més de la persecució política que estem vivint. Ajuda'ns
— Assemblea Nacional (@assemblea) 3 de maig de 2018
Fent-te soci, si encara no ho ets https://t.co/ElsY5ELruB
Amb un donatiu https://t.co/4joqtrKB87#RepúblicaÉsLlibertat #SomANC pic.twitter.com/AFQT0Hy8zN
The Spanish state has confiscated 110,00€ from us, another attempt to weaken us. Another example of the political persecution we're experiencing. Help us (...)
Òmnium described the measure as "another example of political persecution, of repression of dissidence", being a fine "applied following ideological criteria". They also said that, despite having enough money in their accounts to cover it, the Tax Office has sent notifications to their creditors "in another attempt to discredit Òmnium Cultural". In response, it has started a donations drive.
ANC said that "once again, the state wants to ruin us". They say that "they are confiscating the same quantity from each of the two organisations because we refused to pay an unjust fine that we appealed as we've always done and will continue doing".
“Harming its image”
ANC says that, after an inspection, the Tax Agency sent letters to all the organisation's clients, notifying them of the confiscation as a result of the fine. "This action has two clear objectives: to harm the ANC's public image and to redirect the payments made by businesses indebted to the ANC to the Tax Office, thus avoiding that the ANC could oppose the payment of the fine". Through this mechanism, they add, more than 20,000€ have already been returned.
The same statement notes that it's not the only fine or inspection they've received. In 2015, AEPD fined the two organisations 440,000€ which they did pay. "Despite that, the state again tried to behead the entity with a new fine last year. This time, however, it wasn't paid," they write.
Cuixart, six months in prison
This confiscation comes after the Civil Guard, Spain's gendarmerie, has twice searched Òmnium's headquarters and more than six months after the organisation's president, Jordi Cuixart, was sent into pretrial detention.
They say the sanction "is a case without precedents in the Spanish state", since it's imposed for "having an inoperative database in the United States during the period of time during which a new international protocol was being defined between the United States and the European Union over data stored in that country". They say this affected other companies and organisations which haven't been punished and that they haven't been able to confirm the origin of the complaint which started the sanctions process. Finally, they reiterate that they have never put anyone's personal data at risk.