The Spanish parliament suspended on Friday the lawmaker rights of the four jailed Catalan members of parliament while they face trial over the region's failed 2017 independence bid.

The ruling socialist party PSOE, the conservative Popular Party and the centrists of Ciudadanos voted in favour of the decision, while left-wing Podemos voted against.

The announcement was made by lower House speaker Meritxell Batet on behalf of the parliament's governing body.

Catalonia's regional vice president Oriol Junqueras, who is among the jailed MPs, immediately denounced the move.

"We have been suspended in Spain but they can not do this in Europe," Junqueras wrote on Twitter with reference to ongoing EU elections.

"A political prisoner entering the European Parliament is the best way to denounce the repression of the Spanish State," Junqueras continued.

It was not immediately clear what would happen to the seats as it's up to the four lawmakers to decide if they want to leave them empty for now or if they would rather resign and pass the position to a fellow politician.

If the seats are left empty, the total number of lawmakers would drop which, in a deeply fragmented parliament, may work in favour of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who could then be reelected without the backing of the Catalans.

Oriol Junqueras and fellow separatists Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Jordi Sànchez won seats during Spain's April 2019 general election. Raül Romeva, meanwhile, won a seat in Spain's senate.

They are currently being held in prison, awaiting trial on rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges. It is linked to their role in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which Madrid later declared illegal.

In an unprecedented move on Monday, five Catalan leaders were allowed out of prison on Tuesday to be sworn in at the opening of the Spanish Parliament.

But the Spanish Supreme Court recommended to the parliament's governing body to suspend the jailed MPs during their detention. Under Parliamentary rules, any member placed in temporary detention is automatically suspended. </s> Five elected Catalan leaders were allowed out of prison for a few hours today, in order to be sworn in at the opening of the Spanish Parliament.

Former Catalan regional vice president, Oriol Junqueras, as well as separatists Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Jordi Sànchez won seats during Spain's April 2019 election. Raül Romeva also won a seat in the Senate.

They are currently being held in prison, awaiting trial on rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges, after the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which was later declared illegal.

On Monday, the five politicians were escorted to Parliament to collect their official credentials.

Their trial was put on hold, but is expected to resume on Wednesday.

However, despite their election success, there is doubt over whether the politicians will be able to take part in debates.

Under Parliamentary rules, any member placed in temporary detention is automatically suspended.

If the five Catalan separatist leaders are suspended, the majority in Parliament would go from 176 seats to 174, making Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's attempts to form a coalition much easier.

He would be able to reach a sufficient majority without the support of the Catalan parties and the separatist Basque party Bildu. </s> In an unprecedented move, five Catalan leaders were allowed out of prison on Tuesday to be sworn in at the opening of the Spanish Parliament.

It is believed to be the first time that elected, imprisoned individuals have been allowed into the assembly.

Oriol Junqueras, Catalonia's regional vice president, and fellow separatists Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Jordi Sànchez won seats during Spain's April 2019 general election. Raül Romeva, meanwhile, won a seat in Spain's senate.

They are currently being held in prison, awaiting trial on rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges. It is linked to their role in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which Madrid later declared illegal.

On Monday, they were escorted to parliament to collect credentials. Their trial has been put on hold but is expected to resume on Wednesday.

However, despite their election success, there is doubt over whether the politicians will be able to take part in debates.

Under Parliamentary rules, any member placed in temporary detention is automatically suspended.

Junqueras took to Twitter to thank his supporters and voters as he took his seat: ''A million thank yous'', he wrote.

''We are sitting in parliament because the polls decided so. Catalonia and the Catalan people led us to parliament, despite some not wanting us to be there'', the Catalan separatist MP Josep Rull tweeted.

''The ballot box decides. Be wary of the free will of the Catalan people'', Jordi Sànchez added.

There decision to sit with the rest of parliament was denounced by Carles Puigdemont, the leader of the Catalan separatist movement which declared Catalonia's independence from Spain after the 2017 vote. He has fled the country and now lives in Belgium.

The five were nonetheless welcomed to parliament, with some MPs clapping as they entered. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the left-wing Podemos party, hugged them as they joined the Cortes house.

The Catalan separatists might be crucial for the Spanish government to form a coalition. The Socialists, led by Pedro Sánchez, won the April elections with 123 seats in the lower house, but they did not achieve a majority.

To form a coalition, the Socialist party is eyeing an alliance with Podemos' 42 seats and would need yet 11 more seats to have a majority. They could find them with Basque nationalists or the Catalan separatists.

Not everyone is happy that the jailed Catalans are sitting, though: MPs from the right-wing Conservative Popular Party (PP) and the centre-right Ciudadanos party have claimed they will try to get them suspended from parliament, which would ban them from attending parliament sessions.

If the five Catalan separatist leaders are suspended, the majority in Parliament would go from 176 seats to 174, making Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's attempts to form a coalition much easier.

He would be able to reach a sufficient majority without the support of the Catalan parties and the separatist Basque party Bildu.

Receive our newsletter on your smartphone </s> MADRID: Five jailed Catalan separatist leaders elected to the Spanish parliament last month were temporarily released from prison on Tuesday and escorted by police to the assembly to be sworn in as lawmakers.

The Supreme Court allowed the five men, on trial for their role in Catalonia´s 2017 secession attempt, to leave jail to take up their seats, but they are likely to be quickly suspended because of their legal situation. They won office in an April 28 general election which was won by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez´s Socialists but without a majority. Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Sanchez, Jordi Turull and Josep Rull won seats in the Congress, the lower house of parliament, while Raul Romeva was elected to the Senate, the upper house.

They were greeted with applause from other members of their parties when they arrived.

Like other lawmakers they swore to respect the Spanish constitution -- the same constitution they are accused of having violated with their independence push. Romeva vowed to respect the constitution "as a political prisoner, until the proclamation of the Catalan Republic" as he took his seat in the Senate. </s> Five Catalan lawmakers who are in jail for their role in 2017's independence referendum took their seats in the national parliament in Madrid on Tuesday.

The Spanish Supreme Court last week granted the new MPs permission to leave prison to complete the required paperwork, El País reported, on the condition that they be guarded by police at all times and returned to prison “as soon as possible.”

Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull and Josep Rull of the Junts per Catalunya party (Together for Catalonia) and Oriol Junqueras, the leader of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), were elected to the lower house of parliament in April's national election, and Raül Romeva from the ERC won a seat in the upper house. All are in jail while they face trial for their involvement in the independence push. They face charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, among other offenses.

Both the opposition Popular Party and Ciudadanos have said they will try to get the separatists suspended from parliament. </s> Five Catalan political leaders who are on trial for rebellion are scheduled to attend the Spanish parliament on Tuesday for the inauguration of the new legislature, amid uncertainty over whether they will be allowed to take part in parliamentary activity.

Oriol Junqueras, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Jordi Sànchez won seats in Congress in last month’s general election, despite being in jail and on trial in the supreme court. Fellow pro-independence politician Raül Romeva, who is also behind bars and on trial, was elected to the Senate. All five are due to be escorted from the prison where they are being held in Madrid to attend parliament’s opening session.

On Monday, the trial was suspended as the five men picked up their parliamentary credentials from the upper and lower houses. Their trial is due to resume on Wednesday.

“Today we have been able to leave Soto del Real prison thanks to your votes so that we can collect our credentials,” Mr Junqueras, former vice-president of Catalonia and currently leader of the Catalan Republic Left (ERC), said in a brief video posted on Twitter. “Your votes have freed us.”

Mr Romeva also represents ERC, while Messrs Rull, Turull and Sànchez won seats for Together for Catalonia (JxCat). None of them was allowed to address the media or meet privately with colleagues during their visit, which was closely controlled by police.

JxCat spokeswoman Laura Borràs described the restrictions on the jailed parliamentarians as “scandalous”.

All five are facing charges of violent rebellion and sedition for their alleged roles in Catalonia’s failed bid for independence in 2017, and could face lengthy jail sentences if found guilty. The trial began in February and is expected to end next month, although a verdict is unlikely before the summer.

Macarena Olona, a newly elected member of Congress for the far-right Vox party, which is one of the plaintiffs in the supreme court trial, decried the fact that the jailed Catalan leaders had been allowed to appear in parliament. She described their visit as “a failure of the rule of law that means five criminals have managed to get into public institutions in order to destroy Spain”.

ERC made gains in last month’s election, securing 15 seats in Congress and it could potentially be key in allowing the Socialists of prime minister Pedro Sánchez to form a new government after they emerged as winners but fell short of a majority.

However, although the jailed politicians are allowed to attend today’s session, the ability of the four members of Congress to take part in parliamentary business appears to be in the hands of the lower house’s presiding council.

Both the conservative Popular Party (PP) and the Ciudadanos party have called for the presiding council to prevent the four from being able to take up their seats. If that were to happen and the suspended politicians did not delegate their seats, the change in parliamentary arithmetic could make the securing of a majority marginally easier. </s> Spain's parliament has suspended four Catalan lawmakers elected while facing trial over their role in the failed 2017 push for independence.

In a move that could benefit acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the four men – who are being held in custody – will no longer be parliamentarians.

Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Jordi Sanchez now need to either vacate their seats in parliament, or resign.

Sanchez's Socialists came out on top in last month's general elections, but failed to secure a majority in the assembly.

The suspension could reduce the threshold of an absolute majority that he needs in Congress, or in the lower house, to be sworn in for a second term.

If the lawmakers cede their seats to replacements, Sanchez would once again need the help of Catalan separatist parties to be sworn in.

An investiture vote is expected in the first week of July. </s> Five jailed Catalan politicians were allowed to attend the opening of Spain’s Congress of Deputies opening session in Madrid on May 21. MPs Josep Rull, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull, and Senator Raül Romeva swore to uphold the constitution of Spain. Junqueras qualified the oath by adding, “as a political prisoner and by legal obligation.” The court’s authorities were due to decide whether the men would be suspended from further participation, "according to reports. Credit: Canal Parlamento via Storyful </s> Four of the Catalan leaders facing trial over last year’s failed push for regional independence have gone on a hunger strike, claiming they are being treated unfairly by the Spanish justice system.

On Saturday, Jordi Sànchez, the former head of the powerful grassroots group Catalan National Assembly, and Jordi Turull, a former Catalan government spokesman, announced that they were embarking on the strike at Lledoners prison.

The pair accuse Spain’s constitutional court of deliberately blocking their numerous appeals to prevent their cases progressing to the European Court of Human Rights.

“We ask for an impartial and diligent constitutional court, which should not impede the exercise of our rights,” they said in a statement. “We do not ask the constitutional court for any special treatment. But we do not passively accept any discrimination or unwarranted procrastination.”

On Monday two other imprisoned Catalan leaders – former infrastructure minister Josep Rull and ex-interior minister Joaquim Forn – said they were joining the hunger strike to protest against the constitutional court’s “unjust and arbitrary behaviour”.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that while the hunger strike “was obviously not good news”, the imprisoned leaders were being treated in accordance with the law.

“I think it is important to stress that they will have a fair trial because we live in a society based on the rule of law and the judiciary is independent,” he said over the weekend.

However the Catalan president, Quim Torra, has described the Spanish judicial system’s treatment of the prisoners as “one of the worst outrages seen in Europe” in recent years.

“This dramatic and drastic measure being taken is because of what we find to be the complete violation of citizens’ rights, civil and political rights, and of respect for the legal processes of the Spanish state itself,” he said.

“It’s my view that penal law is being used for vengeance, establishing a makeshift legality in order to attack political dissidence.

Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, the head of the Omnium cultural group, have been in pre-trial detention since October 2017, while the former Catalan vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, has been in custody for more than a year.

The former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who led efforts to secede from Spain, fled the country and is now in Belgium.

At the beginning of November, the attorney general of Spain’s supreme court charged Junqueras and eight ministers and senior officials with rebellion, demanding a 25-year sentence for the former vice-president and up to 17 years for the others.

Tensions in Catalonia are likely to rise again early next year when the trials begin. – Guardian
The Catalan leaders who are imprisoned accused of rebellion, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Jordi Sànchez and Josep Rull, are sworn in as members of the Congress of Deputies after being elected in the 28th April general election by an authorization of the Supreme Court.