The Catalan Interior Minister, Joan Ignasi Elena, has harshly criticized what he called the “inappropriate attitude” of Carles Puigdemont. In a joint appearance with the top brass of the Mossos police force that acted on Thursday in the operation that failed to arrest the former president, the top political leader of the Catalan police has avoided criticizing the force and has focused his charge on Puigdemont and his party, Junts. For his part, the chief commissioner of the Mossos, Eduard Sallent, has acknowledged that there was an error in foresight and that they failed to arrest him, but he has stressed that the objective of maintaining security and guaranteeing the plenary session of the Parliament was met.
“Yesterday there was an intention to blow up an investiture session. To delegitimize it, to cover it up, because the result was not to their liking. With a campaign in the media and on social networks about the alleged over-dimensioning of the police force,” said the minister Elena. “And there was also an interest in attacking this Government,” he added, referring to Junts’ criticism of the investiture pact signed by ERC.
Puigdemont’s behaviour, the minister said, was “inappropriate for someone who has been the highest authority in this country”, for which “no one was prepared”. “People are not used, and neither are entities”, Elena added. “People of good will cannot be extras in a deception. Enough of deception”, she continued in a particularly forceful tone against Puigdemont and his people.
The minister also insisted on the need to keep the police force out of political issues. And, for his part, Sallent wanted to refer to some criticisms that the Mossos have received for “not being sufficiently patriotic”. “The Mossos d’Esquadra are a democratic police force and we will be very careful not to be a patriotic police force. We have already had examples of that,” he stressed.
Sallent also explained how the operation was prepared, which he said had three objectives. Firstly, “to guarantee public order, with demonstrations of different kinds at the gates of the Ciutadella park”. Secondly, the “guarantee of constitutional order”, about which he said they had to guarantee that the Parliament could hold its plenary session. And, finally, the arrest of Carles Puigdemont, an arrest that the top official stressed that “they always tried to comply with”.
Puigdemont’s move, which saw him appear in front of more than 3,000 people on Barcelona’s Passeig de Lluís Companys and then disappear, has been branded as “disloyal.” However, Sallent has acknowledged a failure in Puigdemont’s planning.
“The General Commissioner for Information was convinced that Puigdemont would try to attend the plenary session. Because what he did yesterday is more like the actions of Jimmy Jump than of a national authority,” said Sallent, who acknowledged that they rejected the option of him trying to escape before trying to access the plenary session, as finally happened.
“The plan was for the mob to accompany her to the entrances to the park and try to gain access,” said the chief commissioner. “We wanted to make the arrest in the most suitable place in accordance with the principle of proportionality and suitability, but also in a way that would guarantee public order and constitutional order,” he added.
These were the plans of the Mossos, which they drew up from the moment the Parliament announced the date of the investiture session. Both Sallent and Elena wanted to emphasise that the arrangements were designed by the Catalan police alone and that in no case was “anything negotiated or agreed” regarding Puigdemont’s arrest.
In the end, Sallent said, the events occurred in a different way. “Puigdemont entered accompanied by a group of people who hold public and institutional positions with the intention of hindering the actions of the Mossos d’Esquadra. After a 4-minute speech, he left the platform. We tried to approach him at that moment, but a mass of people formed a wall that prevented us from accessing him. The events happened quickly. Puigdemont and Jordi Turull entered a tent, put on a hat and got into a car,” the commissioner said.
Sallent also had harsh words for the two Mossos arrested for their alleged involvement in Puigdemont’s escape, whom he blames for part of the failure of the operation. “I want to highlight the responsibility of the Mossos in the arrival and escape of Puigdemont. I want to condemn him; they do not deserve to wear our uniform.” Both have presented a habeas corpus and the Public Prosecutor’s Office has supported the one of them, who is now free. But the chief commissioner has been forceful in considering that the arrest has been made with all the guarantees of the law.
Sallent has acknowledged that they failed in the arrest and that they made a mistake in the operation, but he has denied that he has any intention of resigning because, he said, “the Mossos do not resign, we are civil servants”, although his position as the highest authority of the force is a position that the minister appoints at his discretion. Along the same lines, when asked by the media, Sallent denied that the Mossos “have made a fool of themselves”. “Yesterday was a very hard day for the entire force.
Source: www.eldiario.es
