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The following is about the treatment of the Catalan officials, including the Vice President, who turned themselves in to the Spanish government and who were judged and sent to prison last Thursday. Some were sent home to be judged later. Others, including the President, fled to Brussels and a decision is supposed to be made about them by a Belgium judge within 15 days: “The judge is to decide within the next 15 days whether to accept the extradition petition from the Spanish judiciary“. http://catalannews.com/politics/item/belgian-judge-releases-puigdemont-and-his-ministers
“Because a person’s hands are used in breaking falls, being handcuffed introduces a significant risk of injury if the prisoner trips or stumbles, in addition to injuries sustained from overly tight handcuffs causing handcuff neuropathy“. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handcuffs
As the elected Catalan government officials were unjustly removed from their positions we continue to call them Catalan officials:
The Catalan officials’ defense attorney denounced their transfer to prison handcuffed with hands behind their back and without seatbelts [and with the Spanish National Anthem playing on endless repeat, according to some reports [1].
The former Justice minister, Carles Mundó, got wrist injuries because the police overtightened the handcuffs, according to the lawyer.
Upon arrival at the prison, two of the Catalan officials were strip searched.
On Saturday, Jaume Alonso Cuevillas, the lawyer of Catalan President Puigdemont and former Catalan government officials, demanded explanations from Spain’s minister of the interior about the conditions under which the Catalan officials were transferred to prison on Thursday evening.
The officials were transferred to prison with their hands handcuffed behind their backs and without seatbelts.
The lawyer described the treatment received by the members of the Government between 5:00 PM, when Judge Carmen Lamela ordered their unconditional arrest, and 10 pm. on Thursday, when they finally arrived at their respective prisons as “an unnecessary humiliation.” Vice President Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Carles Mundó, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Joaquim Forn were sent to Estremera prison; and Dolors Bassa and Meritxell Borràs were sent to Alcalá Meco prison.
Cuevillas assured: “I’m in shock. In 33 years in this profession, I had never encountered this.” Specifically, as the lawyer explained, the Catalan officials were handcuffed from behind, something that “is only done with dangerous prisoners,” said Cuevillas. Once in the police van, the lawyer indicated that the agents did not put seatbelts on the Catalan government officials.
Cuevillas also lamented that the vans “ran around all of the province of Madrid at great speed” with the Catalan officials handcuffed from behind and without seatbelts, and it took hours until they arrived at prisons located 70 and 40 km (43 miles and 25 miles) from the capital. He also assured that once in the prison compound, prison officers forced two of the Catalan officials to strip “as if they were traffickers.”
Cuevillas added that the director of the prison of Estremera agreed that the Catalan Minister of Justice, Carles Mundó, would be visited by the prison’s doctor because he had wrist injuries caused, the lawyer said, by the police overtightening the handcuffs “tightened the handcuffs so he could to do harm” to Mundó.
Asked whether they will transfer these facts to the judge or penitenciary institutions, Cuevillas demonstrated skepticism. “All was denounced, but it is the word of those who suffered it against the one of those who will say they did nothing and that they were very respectful. The only palpable proof is are the injuries of Catalan Justice Minister Mundó,” he asserted.
However, the lawyer has urged the Spanish Minister of the Interior Juan Ignacio Zoido to give explanations about the conditions in which the transfer of the Catalan officials to jail took place. “In any country in the world, the minister would show his face and explain what has happened,” he said.
The above is based upon the following Creative Commons, Attribution, Share Alike article by Oriol Solé Altimira in http://www.eldiario.es and so is also Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (CC-BY-SA). For reuse of the English, reference and links should be to both the original and to our blog, under the same licence (See further below). The information about the National anthem does not appear in the article below, but is found here: “Catalan jailed ministers suffered “unjustifiably vexatious” treatment, says lawyer , Alleged abuse includes ordering them to strip naked, playing the Spanish anthem on a loop, and handcuffing their hands behind their back” 05 November 2017 01:57 PM by ACN, Madrid http://catalannews.com/politics/item/catalan-jailed-ministers-suffered-unjustifiably-vexatious-treatment-says-lawyer
The original article also refers to the officials as ex- or former officials, whereas we opted to call them Catalan officials even though Spain removed them:
“La defensa de los exconsellers denuncia que les trasladaron a prisión esposados y sin cinturón de seguridad” by Oriol Solé Altimira, 04/11/2017 – 10:11h
“El titular de Justicia cesado, Carles Mundó, sufre heridas en las muñecas porque la policía le apretó en exceso las esposas, según el abogado
El abogado de Puigdemont insta al ministro del Interior a dar explicaciones sobre las condiciones en las que se produjo el traslado de los exconsellers hasta la cárcel
Esposados con las manos en la espalda y sin cinturón de seguridad. Así fueron trasladados a la cárcel los consellers cesados el pasado jueves por la noche, según ha denunciado este sábado el abogado de Puigdemont y los exconsellers del PDeCAT, Jaume Alonso Cuevillas.
El letrado ha descrito como “una humillación innecesaria” el trato recibido por los miembros del Govern cesados en el plazo entre las 17h., cuando la jueza Carmen Lamela ordenó su prisión incondicional, y las 22h. del jueves, cuando finalmente llegaron a sus respectivas cárceles –Estremera para Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Carles Mundó, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull y Joaquim Forn; y Alcalá Meco para Dolors Bassa y Meritxell Borràs.
“Estoy en shock. En 33 años de profesión nunca me había encontrado con esto”, ha asegurado Cuevillas. En concreto, según ha explicado el letrado, los exconsellers fueron esposados por la espalda, algo que “sólo se hace con presos peligrosos”, ha dicho Cuevillas. Una vez en el furgón policial, el letrado ha indicado que los agentes no pusieron el cinturón de seguridad a los exmiembros del Govern.
Cuevillas ha lamentado además que los furgones “recorrieron toda la provincia de Madrid a gran velocidad” con los exconsellers esposados por la espalda y sin cinturón, y que tardaron horas hasta llegar a centros penitenciarios situados a 70 y 40 km de la capital. Asimismo, ha asegurado que una vez en la cárcel, los funcionarios obligaron a dos exconsellers a desnudarse “como si fuesen traficantes”.
Cuevillas ha añadido que el director de la cárcel de Estremera acordó que el exconseller de Justicia, Carles Mundó, fuera visitado por el médico de la cárcel porque tenía heridas en las muñecas, provocadas, ha dicho el abogado, porque la policía “apretó las esposas todo lo que pudo para hacer daño” a Mundó.
Preguntado sobre si trasladarán al juzgado o a instituciones penitenciarias estos hechos, Cuevillas se ha mostrado escéptico. “Denunciable lo es todo, pero es la palabra de los que lo sufrieron contra la de unos que dirán que no hicieron nada y que fueron muy respetuosos. La única prueba palpable es la herida de conseller Mundó”, ha aseverado.
Con todo, el abogado ha instado al ministro del Interior, Juan Ignacio Zoido, a dar explicaciones sobre las condiciones en las que se produjo el traslado de los exconsellers hasta la cárcel. “En cualquier país del mundo el ministro daría la cara y explicaría qué ha pasado”, ha zanjado“.
http://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/politica/exconsellers-denuncia-trasladaron-esposados-seguridad_0_704479574.html
http://www.eldiario.es/licencia/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.es
NB: Both the Spanish article and the English which is based upon the Spanish are Creative Commons-BY-Share Alike.
Handcuff photo released to public domain via: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handcuffs
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