Fundadores de 'Basta Ya!' han enviado una carta a los políticos europeos aclarando aspectos sustanciales de la euroorden y de la necesidad de aplicarla en defensa de Europa

Open letter from BastaYa! (2000 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought)

ON THE FUTURE OF THE AREA FOR FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE, AND THE SITUATION IN SPAIN AND CATALONIA

Brussels, 9 April 2018

Dear Madam/Sir,

Members of the European Parliament and EU authorities,

As founding members of the civic platform BastaYa!,laureate of the Sakharov Prize in the year 2000, we write to you today with deepconcern about the future of the Area for Freedom, Security and Justice in the EU and the situation in Catalonia.

In a previous letter sent in October 2017, we drewyour attention to the challenge posed by the Catalan government tothe legal and constitutional order of Catalonia and Spain, which form an integral part of the legal order of the EU.

In that letter,we referred to some of the confusion regarding to the situation in Spain and Catalonia and provided information to enable a fact-check ofthe keymessages conveyed to the international media by the separatist government.

We wish to reiterate today our compromise against impunity. Politicians, like ordinary citizens, also need to abide by the rules.No one has the right to violate the law or to breach the constitutional norms of a country. Everyone has the right to try to change the law, albeit of course only in a democratic mannerand by following the procedures established within the legislative system.

If political leaders were able to ignore the legal framework and constitutional rules of their countries,which are an integral part of the legal framework of the EU, security would be compromised for everyone: for judges, for Courts and for citizens.

The Supreme Court of Spain recently issued a series of European Arrest Warrants against Carles Puigdemont and other former officials and leaders, following the finalisation of thorough investigations, carried out under independent judicial supervision, on the actions of those leaders over the past few months in Catalonia.

The European Arrest Warrant isa key instrument of judicial cooperation in the EU and an essential pillar of the Area for Freedom, Security and Justice.It is intended to avoid impunity by ensuring that presumed criminals who evade justice in one Member State will not find refuge in another and can facedue process and trial. They are issued and decided upon independently by the Courts of Justice of Member States, based on the principles of mutual recognition and faithful cooperation.

Conversely, we believe that the European Arrest Warrant should not be the place for a summary judgement on the substance of the crimes alleged. In other words, it should notsupplant the jurisdictional function of the Court who issued the warrant, as this would defeat the purpose of this tool, running fully against the principles of mutual recognition and faithful cooperation mentioned. Furthermore, it would not respect due process given the summary procedure and the very limited or inexistent possibility for appealfor the parties and the Court who issued the Warrant.

We are deeply concerned that the future of the cooperation mechanisms that underpin the Area of Freedom, Security and Justiceis at stake. We fear that,if the principles of mutual recognition and faithful cooperation are not upheld,impunity for serious crimes would be eased within the EU.Member States and, most importantly,European citizens rely on those cooperation mechanismsfor their freedom and security.

Ultimately, if forceful acts against the territorial integrity of a Member State and in direct contravention of judicial rulings would go unpunished, the integrity of the European Union as a whole would be at stake. A collective effort is required to restore the constitutional order in Spain and avoid that the Area for Freedom Security and Justice becomes an area for impunity instead.

In any democracy, the Law acts as the guarantee that the rights of all citizens are treated on an equal footing, and that the interests of some do not prevail above the rights of everyone. The rights of citizens should not be ignored or disregarded. Neither their will,democratically exercised, in which respect, we should not forget that more than half of the Catalan population (52% in the last elections) do not separatist parties.

Yours sincerely,

On behalf of BastaYa!,

The Founders (Fernando Savater, Rosa Díez, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán, Maite Pagazaurtundua and María San Gil)