To the Editor:
Gonzalo Boye is the lawyer for the President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, and members of his government, who, in 2017, accompanied him to Belgium after holding a referendum on Catalan independence. They went into exile in Belgium because they saw that the Spanish justice system would condemn them even though organising referendums is not a crime in the Spanish penal code.
This is exactly how it turned out, because the Spanish justice system sentenced the members of Puigdemont’s government who stayed in Catalonia to between nine and 13 years in prison. Thanks to the work of lawyer Gonzalo Boye and the international team of lawyers with whom he collaborates, Puigdemont and the other Catalan exiles remain at liberty, despite the efforts of the Spanish justice system to extradite and imprison them. Since he took over the defence of the Catalan pro-independence supporters, Gonzalo Boye’s bank accounts have been closed, he has had four tax inspections and three labour inspections, his office has been broken into twice at night somehow without the security cameras recording anything, and a criminal case has been opened against him for alleged crimes of money laundering and falsification of documents.
The criminal case against Gonzalo Boye is based on two former clients’ voluntary statements, both of whom are in prison. Boye claims that the two men are lying and that he has evidence. One of the men, Puentes Saavedra, is convicted of drug trafficking, and there is also strong evidence that he committed a murder in Colombia. Despite the seriousness of the crimes, Puentes Saavedra was released after testifying against his former lawyer. Two months after the drug trafficker and alleged murderer’s statement, police searched the lawyer’s office and confiscated his mobile phone to make a copy of its contents.
Despite the harassment to which he is subjected, Boye has not given up. He and four Catalan lawyers’ associations have filed a complaint against the judge, the prosecutor and a magistrate for allegedly covering up a murder and prevarication. Boye has challenged the judge and asked the Constitutional Court not to allow anyone to access his phone as it contains confidential information about his work as a defence lawyer. In an interview with the newspaper Vilaweb [https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/boye-tinc-complicat/], Boye explains that he believes that his pro-independence clients will end up winning before Spain, but that his own defence, as a lawyer, will be more difficult. He is convinced that his persecution is the work of powerful groups, operating from within the Spanish state, who want to make him pay for his defence of the Catalan pro-independence supporters.
Maria M. Garayoa
Barcelona, Catalonia
For more information:
https://english.vilaweb.cat/noticies/the-spanish-justice-system-against-defence-lawyer-gonzalo-boye/
https://english.vilaweb.cat/noticies/the-spanish-justice-system-against-defence-lawyer-gonzalo-boye/
Maria:
We thank you for this: another lucid report on the campaign being waged against the people of Catalonia. We look forward to the day when we can publish a report from you in which justice—true justice—triumphs.
The Editor