The Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) is taking action to distance itself from the professor and founder of the controversial research group CREA, Ramon Flecha, who has been reported for sexual and power harassment. The entity's permanent council has proposed to the assembly the dismissal of the board of directors of the Catalan Association of Sociology (ACS), "dominated since 2017 by members of the CREA group", and the withdrawal of the 2019 Catalonia Sociology Award from Flecha, as the institution has reported in a statement.

The rector of the University of Barcelona (UB), Joan Guardia, appeared this Tuesday in the Parliament of Catalonia to explain how his institution has handled the complaints. against the emeritus professor of the center itself, Ramon FlechaSeveral parliamentary groups had requested that Guardia answer to the chamber after the university opened an investigation following internal complaints it had received regarding conduct of sexual harassment, psychological coercion, mistreatment and exploitation linked to the professor and his research group, CREA, andwill send a preliminary report to the Prosecutor's Office"There are actions that may constitute a crime, and the Public Prosecutor's Office must intervene. We all hope that justice will act decisively," Guardia stated. "We are not the Public Prosecutor's Office, but we are a university committed to fighting malpractice. And when we have evidence, we impose sanctions," he insisted.

The Barcelona Prosecutor's Office has entrusted the new unit for crimes against vulnerable groups, where the prosecutors handling the Guardia Urbana crime and the Dani Alves case work, with opening an investigation following complaints against Ramon Flecha, emeritus professor at the University of Barcelona. This decision comes after the university launched an internal investigation following complaints of sexual harassment, psychological coercion, mistreatment, and exploitation linked to the professor and his research group, CREA. will send a preliminary report to the Prosecutor's OfficeAccording to a statement released by the Barcelona Provincial Prosecutor's Office, the unit investigating the case is the "Specialized Section for Violent Crimes against Children and Adolescents, as well as other vulnerable groups and complex criminal profiles." Prosecutors Félix Martín and Elisabeth Jiménez work in this section, as has been reported. The Vanguard And ARA has been able to confirm this. Martín is president of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors and has handled high-profile cases such as the Urban Guard murder case, in which the municipal police officers Rosa Peral and Albert López received a resounding sentence for the murder of a colleague. Jiménez brought the sexual assault complaint against footballer Dani Alves, who was initially convicted, although the High Court of Justice of Catalonia overturned the conviction. He ended up overturning the sentenceThe section specializing in crimes against vulnerable groups will work with a team from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), including members of the Sexual Assault Unit and agents from the Central Area of ​​Analysis and Intelligence Development, who have experience investigating cult-like organizations. The University of Barcelona sent the information it had gathered to the Public Prosecutor's Office even though its internal investigation was not yet complete. However, the preliminary report already pointed to the existence of a "high-control coercive group." Specifically, sixteen people had reported the group for having sexual relations "in a context of clear hierarchical inequality" with "students, interns, doctoral candidates, or subordinates." Furthermore, the UB also He provisionally suspended emeritus professor Ramon Flecha from his dutiesAnother honorary professor and two other professors he did not identify. He announced that he would join the case as a private prosecutor if the Public Prosecutor's Office ultimately decides to file a complaint or lawsuit.