At a press conference following a meeting of the executive, Minister of the Presidency and government spokesperson Meritxell Budó reported that a decision had been made to “take judicial and nonjudicial action” before the General Administration of the State in relation to a report on the independence process produced by the Secretariat of State for Global Spain of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and made public through the media several weeks ago.

 

Specifically, the executive authorised the filing of prior notification before lodging a complaint through the contentious channel against the public communication of the report. The Public Prosecutor’s Office will also be informed so that it can determine whether any criminal offence has been committed.

 

The report entitled ‘The Reality of the Independence Process’, which was released to the media on 14 August, was a guide aimed at diplomatic representatives abroad, but it was also disseminated among international correspondents, journalists and interlocutors, including media outlets.

 

In the view of the Executive Council: “The report is not merely descriptive; it includes numerous subjective opinions concerning the events of 1 October that damage Catalonia’s image and violate the presumption of innocence of those now being prosecuted and awaiting sentence for those events.”

 

The executive believes that the public communication of the report violates an EU directive on the presumption of innocence and may constitute interference with the judicial branch as it criminalises the independence movement just weeks before Spain’s Supreme Court is due to pass sentence on Catalan leaders.