Mas-Colell receives the support of internationally renowned economists in rejection of Court of Auditors bail

BarcelonaWithin two weeks, the house, the pension and bank account of the former minister Andreu Mas-Colell could be seized by the Court of Auditors as a result of the investigation it has opened for alleged irregularities in the Generalitat's foreign action between 2011 and 2017. The former minister's family considers the investigation totally unfair and his son, Alex Mas, has decided to make it public through a Twitter thread that has already received the support of several internationally renowned economists

The prestigious economist and professor at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, Dani Rodrik, for example, has described the case as a "disturbing threat" and has highlighted Mas-Colell's professional career, recalling that he interrupted his academic career to devote himself to public service. The director of the Independent Institute, Alexander Tabarrok, and the Georgetown Center for Economic Research through its official Twitter account, among others. Michele Boldrin, professor at the University of Can Foscari in Venice; Tim Kehoe, professor of Economics at the American University of Minnesota; Manuel Arellano, professor at the Spanish Center for Monetary and Financial Studies; and Ricardo Reis, professor at the London School of Economics, among many others.

Mas-Colell's son, a professor at the University of Princeton, recalls that his father had nothing to do with the organisation of the referendum and that he had retired for "years". He denounces that now, six years after having ceased to be a minister in Artur Mas's government, a "politicised" court, as he describes the Court of Auditors, holds a few government officials responsible for having used part of the funds allocated to the Generalitat's foreign action to promote the Independence bid. Alex Mas denies it and stresses that in the report's 18,000+ pages do not specify what involvement Mas-Colell had,

"There will be no trial. It is simply a fine that has been issued. Appeals can take years to reach the European Court of Human Rights, but the trick is in the fact that in the meantime the accused has to put up the guarantee for the total of what is claimed," he denounces. Out of the Department's €416.8m expenditure, €15.8m are under suspicion, which correspond to Diplocat's activity, but also conferences, travel and expenses which the Court believes may have exceeded the Generalitat's remit on foreign policy. All those under investigation have been summoned on June 29 in Madrid.

The Catalan Government has regretted the Court of Auditors' decision against the former minister and has considered that it is a new demonstration that there is a general cause against independence. In this sense, the executive's spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, has insisted that what is needed is an "amnesty for all the victims of reprisals" and abandoning judicialisation to "return to politics".