February 1: new date for transferal of jailed leaders to Madrid

Trial due to start in Spain's capital in coming weeks

Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid (by Tània Tàpia)
Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid (by Tània Tàpia) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

January 30, 2019 10:40 AM

The pro-independence jailed leaders facing trial in the coming weeks are expected to be transferred from Catalan to Madrid prisons on February 1.

The sessions will be held in Madrid, so the Supreme Court has ordered for them to be closer to its headquarters ahead of the event.

Some sources had stated few days ago that the transferal would occur on January 29, but on Tuesday the Spanish penitentiary authority informed that the move is expected for this Friday.

The intention is for the jailed leaders to be available to be tried in Madrid from February 2.

The judges said earlier this week that they expected the trial to start "around" February 5 –yet less than a week before this date the court has not shared when exactly the trial will start and how long it will last.

The seven male jailed officials will be moved to Soto del Real prison (where two of them, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, had already spent some months), while the two female leaders will be sent to Alcalá-Meco center, where they were incarcerated for months before being moved to Catalan jails.