Pro-independence minister who spent a month in jail gives up politics

Carles Mundó says decision is due to "personal reasons"

Carles Mundó outside the Catalan Parliament on January 9, 2018 (by Rafa Garrido) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

First published: January 9, 2018 01:31 PM

Carles Mundó, the deposed Catalan justice minister, announced on Tuesday that he is giving up politics. In an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN, in Catalan), he said that the decision is due to “personal reasons.” Although his “commitment” to his party, pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, remains, he will work as a lawyer, his job before launching his career in politics. In the past few weeks he was one of the people said to take over Carme Forcadell as Catalan Parliament president.

Four Catalan ministers being freed from a Madrid region jail on December 5, 2017 (by Xavier Alsinet)

Mundó was one of the pro-independence leaders who spent 33 days in prison last year, from November 2 to December 5, when he was freed under a €100,000 bail. He was the Justice minister of the Catalan government when the referendum on independence was held on October 1 and when the Catalan Parliament declared independence on October 27. Because of those events, the Spanish judiciary opened an investigation against the whole Catalan cabinet, accusing all its members –including Mundó– of rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds. Despite his release, Mundó will have to face a trial in the future and the charges hanging over him might carry up to 30 years in jail.

Closing down La Model prison, among Mundó's actions

One of the main actions by Mundó as Justice minister was closing down last June the men’s prison known as La Model, which was in a poor state after being open for 113 years. It was in the heart of Barcelona and it became a symbol of the Francoist repression in Catalonia, as it was the place where political opponents were imprisoned, tortured and executed for almost four decades in the 20^th century. Only five months after achieving the long-awaited closure of La Model, Mundó himself was imprisoned in a correctional facility in the Madrid region.

The day he was imprisoned, Mundó reported injuries while being transferred to the prison, because he was handcuffed behind his back. While behind bars, he shared a cell with the vice president of the deposed Catalan government, Oriol Junqueras, where he received hundreds of supportive letters from citizens. After being released, he told about his life in jail.

Esquerra thanks “dedication and commitment”

Mundó’s party, Esquerra Republicana, promptly reacted to the news thanking his “dedication and commitment to the country, the Catalan government and the party in all the tasks taken forward over the past years, especially as a minister.” In a statement, the party also said that it “will not give up on his talent and experience” and believes that Esquerra will always “count on him as his commitment is undoubted.”