The Criminal Court 1 of Sabadell (Barcelona) has sentenced the previous mayor of the town Maties Serracant to 4 months of disqualification for disobedience on 1-O.
The sentence additionally imposes a advantageous of 1,800 euros on Serracant -who was mayor throughout 1-O- for a criminal offense of significant disobedience, attenuated by undue delay, that’s, as a result of the process has been prolonged over time for causes past his management. he.
At his trial on April 26, Serracant declared that stopping the vote as ordered by the Constitutional Court (TC) was “past” his talents as mayor.
However, the ruling recollects that the TC suspended the Referendum Law that had been authorised by Parliament with a view to 1-O, in addition to two Government decrees additionally associated to voting.
He provides that this suspension was “personally notified” to Serracant in his capability as mayor, each by electronic mail and by licensed letter by means of the Government Delegation.
He recollects that on September 6, 2017, the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the Generalitat despatched a letter to all of the Catalan mayors, together with Serracant, “wherein they communicated that the municipalities needed to make the premises out there to the electoral administration of the Government of the Generalitat of municipal possession that had been normally getting used as voting facilities within the legitimately known as electoral processes”.
The Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) additionally despatched an electronic mail to a number of mayors, together with Serracant, asking to verify if voting factors for 1-O could be the standard polling stations.
Decree of competences in faculties
In response, Serracant issued a decree wherein he confirmed his help for 1-O, and the choose factors out that he did so even though he had acquired directions from the Constitutional Court to “forestall or paralyze” any initiative that might circumvent the ban on the referendum.
It provides that Serracant didn’t annul that decree and, “conscious of the potential felony tasks that might derive from the potential use of municipal premises to vote” and with the intention of ignoring the TC, he issued one other decree with which he centralized the powers of the councilors on authorization to make use of instructional facilities, cultural services and different municipal services to exempt the councilors from accountability when utilizing these areas for 1-O.
Regarding this decree, within the Serracant trial he stated that he signed it three days earlier than 1-O, that powers usually assigned to a deputy mayor had been granted and that he did so “for larger ease of administration and for larger authorized safety” for the remainder of the consistory.
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