The prison regulations that apply in Catalonia provide that when prisoners have served a quarter of their sentence, are classed under a standard (level two) prison security regime and show good behaviour, they may begin to be granted occasional leave from prison. Pro-independence civil leaders Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez meet these requirements, which is why the Lledoners Prison treatment board has begun giving them two- and three-day leave permissions, in addition to permission to work outside the prison, which has been approved by the specialist prisons court. The public prosecutors, however, believe this is unacceptable and are continuing to put up tooth and nail opposition to such leave, arguing, for example, that a rapist who had uttered Cuixart's famous phrase "I'll do it again" would never be let out. Today they have submitted another challenge to a new 72-hour leave granted to Jordi Cuixart - because he shows no regret and hasn't changed his ways.
A week ago, the prisons judge dismissed the prosecutors' argument that Cuixart should not be granted a three-day leave which Lledoners prison had approved internally in late January. In the face of the judge's rejection, the prosecutors decided to knock on another door, that of the Barcelona Audience court. Their new submission presents the same reasoning: basically that the Òmnium president should not be allowed a few hours' leave since he fails to recognize his crime and has not undergone any specific treatment programme that might allow him to realize the seriousness of the actions he committed and to be "re-educated."
Like a rapist who "would do it again"
The text asserts that Cuixart "presents significant cognitive distortions" because he "denies the criminal nature of his behaviour, which necessarily prevents him from modifying his poor conduct". It adds that "the inmate does not feel obligated by the rules, only by his own beliefs and codes of conduct."
In the same vein the prosecutors say that "in relation to the recognition of the crime", the approval of the leave is "in contradiction to the psychologist's report, which at no point states that he shows any will to change or repent".
The document concludes that Cuixart's statements "indicating that he would take the same action again given the same conditions and in the same ways, are definitive." And it draws a comparison to other crimes with penalties similar to those imposed on the Jordis, such as rape or murder. The prosecutors explain that in cases like these it would be unthinkable "to grant a permit to an inmate who states that he would do it again given the same conditions".