The PSOE and its partners summon Rajoy, Cospedal and Sáenz de Santamaría to the commission on ‘Operation Catalonia’

The top brass of the Spanish Government and the top brass of the police in 2017. The Commission of Inquiry into the so-called “Operation Catalonia” and the actions of the Ministry of the Interior during the governments of the Popular Party in relation to the alleged irregularities that link senior police officers and commanders to the existence of a paramilitary network has taken a further step this Thursday and has approved the work plan and the list of those who will appear.

That list includes the top brass of the PP Executive at the time, with President Mariano Rajoy at the head, along with Vice President Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the Secretary General of the Popular Party, María Dolores de Cospedal, and the Minister of the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz.

The number two in the Interior Ministry, Francisco Martínez, also appears on the list of those who appeared, as well as the top police officers of the day. Among them, the Deputy Director of Police Operations, Eugenio Pino, and other senior officials such as Marcelino Martín Blas and Celestino Barroso.

Among the twenty people cited by Congress are also names of political leaders such as Oriol Junqueras, then vice-president of the Generalitat, or the former president Artur Mas. Also mentioned is the former leader of the Catalan PP, Alicia Sánchez Camacho.

The commission of inquiry into Operation Catalunya will begin its hearings on October 15 with Francisco Martínez and Eugenio Pino. All the groups in the House voted in favour of the list, except for the PP and Vox, who voted against, and the PNV, who abstained. Parliamentary sources estimate that the hearings will extend until February and will be closed by Artur Mas, Oriol Junqueras and Mariano Rajoy.

This afternoon, Congress also approved the work plan of the Commission of Inquiry “on the right to know the truth and the implications arising from the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils on 17 August 2017”, another of the commitments made by the Government to the Catalan pro-independence parties. The Commission had been at a standstill since last February but was also reactivated this week. The Ministry of Defence has even opened the door to providing the Commission with declassified documents from the National Intelligence Centre.