On Thursday 1 February 2018, three Catalan independence leaders lodged a case with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, claiming that their imprisonment by the Spanish Government is unlawful.
Jordi Cuixart, Jordi Sanchez, and Oriol Junqueras were detained last year on unsustainable criminal charges as part of a crack-down on the peaceful Catalan independence movement. Parliamentarians and 100 Spanish law professors have confirmed that there is no legal basis for charging them with the crimes they are accused of, but repeated applications for their release from jail have been refused by the Spanish judicial system, and they have been left with no option but to take their case to the UN.
The applicants are represented before the UN WGAD by Ben Emmerson QC (Matrix Chambers, London); Rachel Lindon (Paris); Jessica Jones (Matrix Chambers, London). They are represented in Spain by Marina Roig Altozano, Jordi Pina Massachs, and Andreu Ven Den Eynde (all Barcelona).
Please see here for the press release in full.