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ARCHIVED - Judge states that Russia offered soldiers and finance to an independent Catalunya
New arrests in the investigation into the financing behind the 2017 declaration of independence from Spain
The judge investigating the way in which finance was provided for the political upheaval in Catalunya in October 2017, when the regional parliament made a unilateral declaration of Independence from Spain before the central government in Madrid acted to dissolve and disempower the parliament in Barcelona, has stated that an offer was made by Russia to the then regional president Carles Puigdemont to provide 10,000 soldiers if he declared independence, and to pay off all Catalan debt.
The claim is based on telephone conversations between Víctor Terradellas, the president of an organization called Fundació Catmón, former ERC party leader Xavier Vendrell and leading Catalan separatist David Madí, in which Sr Terradellas is reported to have told Sr Vendrell about the offer of troops and financial aid. Sr Vendrell is reported by Judge Joaquín Aguirre to have expressed concern about the possibility of these offers coming to light, while the explanation of Sr Terradellas is that the aim of the Russians was to convert Catalunya into “a country like Switzerland”.
The judge also reports that Sr Vendrell suggested to Sr Madí that he raise the issue of a cyber currency platform with Xavier Vinyals, a close colleague of Carles Puigdemont, in order to avoid the Spanish government intervening in the movements of capital involved, and that Sr Terradellas had been involved for five months with a group from Russia in relation to the development of such a “cyber-platform”. It is believed that the intention of the Russians was to “invest” between 100 and 300 million euros.
Had Carles Puigdemont accepted the offer from Russia, the judge goes on, the consequences would probably have been “tragic”, including armed conflict on Spanish soil and the loss of human lives.
On Wednesday morning the Guardia Civil, acting on the orders of the judge, carried out various house searches and arrested 21 people, many of them members or former members of the “inner circle” of Sr Puigdemont’s advisers both in Catalunya and in Waterloo (Belgium), where he fled Spanish justice, in connection with the financing of the “process” of Catalan independence and other alleged offences.
Among those under investigation by the judge are Sr Vinyals, Sr Madí, Sr Vendrell, businessman Josep Campmajó and Josep Lluís Alay, who was named International Policy Coordinator of the Catalan government by Sr Puigdemont’s successor, Quim Torra, before taking up a post as the head of Carles Puigdemont’s office staff.
The charges they and another 50 or so people under investigation may face include the misuse of public funds, influence trafficking, money laundering and the disruption of public order.
The Russian Government denies the claims.