Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez asserts that the transfer of the Catalan political prisoners to jails in Catalonia is taking place because of the need for "compliance with the law" and denies that there is any "political involvement". Sánchez thus recognises that the relevant legislation leaves it "quite clear" that once the investigation phase of the court case is finished, the prisoners "undoubtedly" have to be where they have their "social roots" and "where their families and their defence lawyers live".
Sánchez made these declarations during the press conference after his meeting on Monday evening with Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa, and after it had been announced that the Spanish government has already started the formalities to move six of the nine prisoners to Catalonia. The six are former vice-president Oriol Junqueras, former foreign minister Raül Romeva and civil leaders Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart, who will be moved in the next few days to Lledoners prison near the Catalan city of Manresa, while former speaker of Parliament Carme Forcadell and ex-labour minister Dolors Bassa are destined for women's prison at Figueres. It is expected that they will arrive in Catalonia on Wednesday or Thursday.
The six jailed Catalan pro-independence leaders are all facing charges of rebellion resulting from last year's referendum and independence process. Three other Catalan politicians also on the same charge still remain in prison in the Madrid region (Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn), while the remaining four charged with rebellion are in exile in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Scotland (Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín, Marta Rovira, and Clara Ponsatí). Other pro-independence leaders are also charged with misuse of funds and disobedience as part of the same Supreme Court case.