Thread by @joethebrew

In an interview today in @welt, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said that imprisoned Catalan leaders "deliberately violated the law".

This clearly violates the presumption of innocence.
And @EU_Commission rules.

Sadly, this is part of a pattern in Spain.

(Thread)

Catalan leaders have spent as much as 1.5 years in pre-trial imprisonment. During this time, multiple public officials have said that they "committed crimes".

The statements published today from Foreign Minister Borrell are the norm, not the exception:

welt.de/politik/auslan…

Statements by Borrell implying the guilt of Catalan politicians are in clear violation of CoE guidance:

"Article 6§2 prohibits statements by public officials about pending criminal investigations which encourage the public to believe the suspect guilty"

rm.coe.int/1680304c4e

But it gets worse.

Not only did Borrell tell a German journalist that the Catalan politicians "deliberately violated the law".

His Ministry (Foreign Affairs) translated the interview to Spanish, so as to disseminate the message at home too:

exteriores.gob.es/Portal/es/Sala…

Borrell then tweeted the translation of his interview (with the statement implying the guilt of his political rivals).

In other words, Spanish State resources are being used to disseminate statements violating the presumption of innocence of detainees.

https://twitter.com/JosepBorrellF/status/1110165374249697281

This is not a one-time mistake.
It is part of a pattern.

Spanish Government officials, both at home and abroad, are repeatedly stating that the Catalan politicians are guilty of a crime, despite not having been convicted of anything.

spainenglish.com/2019/02/14/opi…

Secretary of State for Global Spain, Irene Lozano, told the BBC that the pre-trial, imprisoned Catalan politicians "committed criminal offences".

https://twitter.com/joethebrew/status/1091196954204405761

The Spanish Ambassador to the US published an article in an American newspaper stating that the Catalan politicians "broke the law".

https://twitter.com/joethebrew/status/1093283049842884608

Carmen Calvo, Spain's Vice-President, stated in Congress that the Catalan politicians "committed crimes".

Regardless of how you feel about Catalan independence, the following are simple, objective truths:

1. The Catalan politicians on trial have not been convicted of any crime

2. Spanish public officials stating otherwise violates their right to the presumption of innocence

The presumption of innocence is not some vague, aspirational notion. It is a basic condition of a fair trial, and is required by EU law.

EU member States have an obligation to protect the rights of EU citizens when fundamental rights are violated.

@VeraJourova

The repeated public violations of the presumption of innocence by Spanish Government officials are incompatible with the notion that the Catalan leaders are being given a "fair trial".

The EU's silence on the matter belittles its credibility.

Who will speak up?

@hrw
@amnesty