This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
Published on November 7, 2019, Spanish media reported that Catalan president Quim Torra was implicated in a plot to occupy the Catalan parliament in Barcelona.
According to tapped phone conversations, two jailed activists discussed a plan to occupy the parliament with 'the Catalan government inside' and 'resist during one week.'
One of the suspected leaders implicated Torra and his predecessor Carles Puigdemont, calling them by the code names 'Gandalf' and 'Lisa.'
During his interrogation by police, the man said the plan 'came from the presidency...from Torra.'
Torra's regional government denied the reports, stating they lacked 'any type of credibility.'
Torra also denied having any relationship with the detained activists.
The allegations stem from a plot to occupy the Catalan parliament after Spain's Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to jail terms in October.
Police arrested nine separatists in September, accusing them of belonging to a new group, the Tactical Response Team.
The court suspects the group intended to use 'any means, including violent ones' to establish an independent republic and possessed materials that could be used to make explosives.
The group's lawyer, Xavi Pellicer, said the accusations of terrorism do not hold up and that the case was part of a 'politically motivated' attempt to criminalise the Catalan independence movement.
