A second wave of Catalan independentists has gone into exile as a result of the National Audience's terrorism investigation against the Democratic Tsunami protest platform for its role in the 2019 protests against the pro-independence leaders' trial sentencing. At least seven of the 12 people investigated are currently residing outside Catalonia, and four of them have moved in recent months due to the court's investigation. Republican Left (ERC) deputy Ruben Wagensberg, Òmnium activist Oleguer Serra, journalist Jesús Rodríguez and businessperson Josep Campmajó all now live in Switzerland, where ERC general secretary Marta Rovira has been since 2018. After autumn 2017, Jaume Cabani left for Belgium, where until recently the president in exile, Carles Puigdemont, was also based, having now moved to Northern Catalonia (in France) to campaign for election.
All of them are exposed to the possibility of being tried and convicted for terrorism for their alleged link with the Tsunami platform and several major protests it organized following the 2019 sentencing. They are also investigating the head of Carles Puigdemont's office, Josep Lluís Alay (in Catalonia), the businessperson Xavier Vendrell (living between Catalonia and Colombia, as an advisor to president Gustavo Petro), the senior ERC politician Marta Molina, the businessperson Oriol Soler (also in Catalonia), and the Swiss banker Nicola Flavio Giulio Foglia.
Molina and Soler are in Catalonia
In fact, Marta Molina (ERC) and Oriol Soler have not chosen the path of exile and reside in Catalonia. Molina's lawyer, Marina Roig, explained to El Nacional.cat that her client will inform the National Audience of her address as requested. The ERC director lives in Girona. Soler will do the same, as his legal representative, Benet Salellas, has confirmed to this newspaper.
Spanish judiciary, ready to go beyond the law
In an interview with the ACN agency, Benet Salellas, lawyer for Serra, Campmajó and Soler, denounces that, despite the amnesty law, there is "a certain lack of control in certain areas" of the Spanish judiciary which are "willing to go beyond what the law says" for "political" reasons. "The insecurity leads to decisions like exile", he says.
Lawyer Benet Salellas: "[The signs are that], being a case with a high political content, it won't follow the channels, controls and judicial rules of a normal case. That is what makes many people consider the risk that they might be faced with being deprived of their liberty or arrest warrants, which would never be justified due to the case, but there is the concern because it is so politicised."
Apart from the risk of going to prison, Salellas explains that the decision to go into exile is also a way to "denounce internationally that Spain uses terrorism to silence political dissent": "We will use all the institutional channels to explain to the world that fundamental rights of European citizens are being violated". "Until now, [Catalan] exile has shown that the decisions made by the European countries have gone against the Spanish authorities".
Living in Switzerland since November
Salellas revealed to ACN that they decided to activate the operation to change addresses to Switzerland following the ruling of judge Garcia-Castellón of the National Audience on November 6th, 2023. "It showed that it was a case that the judicial right would use to fight against the amnesty law and that it would not follow the controls or rules of any ordinary court case. This makes many people consider the risk of situations of being deprived of their liberty or facing arrest warrants", he says. Faced with this concern, the choice is to "go into exile".
Like Ruben Wagensberg, Oleguer Serra, a board member of Omnium, also left Catalonia months ago, as he himself explained at an event this Wednesday. The same decision was made at the end of 2023 by the journalist Jesús Rodríguez. Facing this new stage of "exile", Salellas defends that "the cost must be borne by the independence movement". "It cannot be that the people who have gone into exile have to bear the costs", he asserts.