Cospedal and Sánchez-Camacho: two faces, the same lie
This week's Monday started with the broadcast on the program The world on RAC1 New audio recordings about the so-called Operation Catalonia. Aside from the ineffable Commissioner Villarejo, this time the protagonists were María Dolores de Cospedal and Alícia Sánchez-Camacho. The recording dates back to 2014, at the height of the Catalan self-determination movement. At that time, Villarejo was an active National Police Commissioner, and the two female political leaders wielded considerable power: Cospedal was the general secretary of the PP at the Spanish level, and Sánchez-Camacho presided over the Catalan PP. The former made and unmade Spain, the latter in Catalonia. It's worth remembering, as a very relevant fact, that these were the years when the PP governed Spain with an absolute majority, with Rajoy as president.
The conversations released on Monday, and denied a few hours later by the two protagonists in their appearances before the Congress of Deputies committee investigating Operation Catalunya, represent further proof of the extent to which the Catalan independence movement was dismembered and decapitated with total impunity. It's pouring rain, as the new revelations add to those already known from the Ministry of the Interior led by Jorge Fernández Díaz, and the confirmation that President Rajoy himself was perfectly aware of them.
The evidence that is accumulating, which will probably not be the last, shows that in order to combat and destroy a political movement, not only were the seams of the rule of law and the core of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution stretched thin, but they were also dynamited. Anything went in the defense of "all for the homeland": pressure on judges and prosecutors, or even collusion with them; use of public money to pay informants to lie; manifest desire to erode or squander the good name or public image of political leaders, with serious consequences for their reputation; use of an armed security force, such as the police, by certain individuals suspected of collusion with the independence movement; alteration of election results, that is, serious infringement of the fundamental right of citizens to elect their political representatives.
As evidence of criminal activity piles up on the table, the question that always arises is the same: what now? The answer should be simple: in a state governed by the rule of law and in a true democracy, evidence of criminal activity must be investigated in court, must be prosecuted, and, if necessary, appropriate penalties must be imposed. Let's not fool ourselves, anything less than this represents a collapse of the rule of law and a rottenness of the democratic system.
However, if the answer is so easy and obvious, why isn't it happening? The answer to this new question is also, unfortunately, clear: because the subject of all this is Catalonia. Contrary to what one might think, it is not true that the PP can act with impunity to do whatever it wants; we have cases like the Gürtel case, for which the PP has paid the price in court. On the other hand, when the PP, or whoever else, acts against Catalonia, they can do so with complete impunity because they sense they will have immunity. In my opinion, this is the crux of the matter. And let it be clear that when I say Catalonia I don't confuse the independence process with the country as a whole, because I know they're not the same. But I also know that if the process hadn't been Catalan, the impunity and arrogance with which they acted wouldn't be the same.
Having said all that, I must confess that the appearance of Cospedal and Sánchez-Camacho surprised me in one respect: their infinite cowardice. It contrasts with figures like Villarejo, who, when they explain what they did, don't hide but boast about it. People like the commissioner pride themselves on serving the state and fighting for its unity, and if necessary, they do so through illicit means, thinking they'll never get caught. But if they fall, they do so with pride. On the other hand, these two deny the pure evidence, with complete shamelessness and pretending that nothing can happen to them, that they won't have to be held accountable. At the same time, they come across as fearful and lacking in courage, incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions.
The contrast between the punishments and persecution we, the sovereigntists, have suffered and the impunity surrounding the "servants of the state" is brutal and shocking. According to the Spanish courts, we flouted the law, which is why we have been given harsh sentences. According to the Spanish judicial system itself, senior state officials who accumulate evidence of illegal conduct do not need to be investigated. If this remains the case, at least they should have the decency not to call it justice.
