Judges from Spain's Supreme Court have reacted with astonishment to the decision by Spain's justice ministry to not take on the defence of judge Pablo Llarena for what the department describes as the "private acts which are attributed to him" as part of the civil lawsuit he faces in Belgium brought by Carles Puigdemont and the ministers in exile. The state says it will only hire a lawyer to defend "the sovereignty and jurisdictional immunity of the Spanish courts".
They believe the exiles are looking to do the judge personal harm, not only discredit the legal proceedings against them. They also say that the ministry "has fallen into their strategy", "selling out" Llarena, who will now have to pay thousands of euros for a lawyer from his own pocket.
Court sources have told Europa Press that the lawsuit against Llarena in Belgium is because he is the instructing judge in the case of the Catalan independence movement, and no other reason. They argue that, to achieve their aims, Puigdemont, his ministers and their defence have looked for statements from the judge from public events to allow them to bring the lawsuit for his "private" actions.
The lawsuit claims that statements Llarena reportedly made after a speech in Oviedo in February prove he is not impartial.