Spanish public prosecutors are arguing in a Barcelona court that Quim Forn, one of the pro-independence Catalan leaders imprisoned over the 2017 independence referendum, should not be allowed permission to work outside the prison, because he has not been treated for his "seditious" tendencies.
In an appeal to the Barcelona Audience court, the prosecutors argue that Forn, former interior minister serving a 10 year and 6 month sentence for sedition, should not be given permission to leave prison several days a week to work as a lawyer in a media firm, because he is still in an "initial phase" of his prison sentence, the daily periods of liberty he has been granted are very long, and he is not undergoing any specific treatment for the crime of sedition.
In February, the Catalonia prison of Lledoners authorized Forn to leave prison for twelve and a half hours a day, from Monday to Friday, to work as a lawyer in the Mediapro group in Barcelona city.
The prosecutors say the granting of this permission under article 100.2 of the prison regulations was premature because Forn had not yet served a quarter of his prison sentence for his role in Catalonia's push for independence (although on 16th June, he will reach this milestone).
Forn has not followed a specific rehabilitation treatment for the crime of sedition of which he was convicted, nor has he participated in linked group or individual activities, say the prosecutors, and his work leave will not have any "positive effect on the treatment deficiencies" of the prisoner. In fact, his work activity has nothing to do with the crime for which he is serving a sentence, since, they recall, "he did not commit the crimes for an economic need".
Spain's public prosectors have consistently opposed the granting of this type of work leave to the nine Catalan political prisoners. However, prison treatment boards and prison courts judges have, up till now, approved these permissions for the nine.
This week, the Spanish justice minister Juan Carlos Campo reiterated in parliament that his government wanted to reform the sedition law under which the political and civil leaders were controversially convicted. However, he said such a reform must be undertaken "calmly" and "not in response to any specific case".