The Catalan government has criticised the reports published this morning by various media in Madrid, that point to the fact that the Belgian police had been in contact with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), alerting them to the dangers of the imam of Ripoll. Government spokesman and minister of the presidency, Jordi Turull, has stated that it all responds to a "media wave" that attempts "to discredit" the role of the Mossos in the attacks.
In an interview on El Matí programme on Catalunya Ràdio, the minister not only took aim at the desire to discredit the Catalan police, but also pointed at the Madrid media for having mixed the terrorist attacks with the independence process. "They're comparing apples with oranges," said Turull, then also making reference to a cruel cartoon published in El País newspaper.
The front pages of this morning of the three main Madrid newspapers — El País, El Mundo, ABC — make serious accusations against the Mossos: the first two point to the fact that the Belgian police were in touch with the Mossos to warn them about the imam Abdelbaki Es Satty; whilst ABC notes that the examining judge of court No. 2 of Amposta, Sonia Nuez, advised the Catalan police that the explosion in Alcanar could have something to do with a terrorist attack.
"There are media that are the loudspeakers of what they are. We have chosen not to pay attention," said the minister, who showed his surprise for the reports and reiterated the role of the Mossos in the investigation following the attack. "The people have seen that there is a police force prepared. In 5 days it arrested or shot the 12 members of the cell," explained Turull.
The Mossos in Europol
Turull showed his openness to the fact that the Catalan police enter the European Office of Police (Europol), a claim that the Catalan government made last Tuesday and in the Security Council meeting last July. "If there is a political will that we are there, then we can be there," said the minister, who related this incorporation with the independence process: "If they say that to be in Europol we have to be a state, then everybody should take note."
PDeCAT and the CUP
The minister of the presidency reiterated that after the 1st October referendum, PDeCAT (Catalan European Democratic Party) and the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) will go their separate ways, as the coordinator of the party, Marta Pascal, pointed out yesterday.
Turull explained that on the day after the vote, a constituent process will start in which each political group will defend its model: "The model of society that the CUP wants and what the PDeCAT wants have nothing in common," Turull said, and on the other hand he asked for the unionists not to try and divide Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) and the anticapitalist party.