Anna Simó

Anna Simó i Castelló (born 26 July 1968) is a Spanish Catalan politician. A member of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), she became the Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2003 as part of the first "Tripartite" coalition government formed by the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, ERC and Initiative for Catalonia Greens, a position she held until ERC's ministers were removed from the government in May 2006.

Anna Simó i Castelló
Simó in 2008
First Secretary of the Parliament of Catalonia
In office
26 October 2015 – 29 October 2017
Preceded byPere Navarro
Succeeded byEusebi Campdepedrós
Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya
In office
2003-2006
Preceded byIrene Rigau
Succeeded byCarme Figueras
Personal details
Born26 July 1968
Els Alamús (Segrià)
Political partyERC
Websitehttp://blocs.esquerra.cat/simo/

Education and professional background

Anna Simó earned an undergraduate degree in Catalan philology from the University of Barcelona in 1991 and went on to complete a post-degree program in language planning at the same university in 1992.

From 1990 to 2003, she worked for the Linguistic Normalisation Consortium (Consorci per a la normalització lingüística), including a stint as the head of the Linguistic Normalisation Center in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona.

Civic background

She is a member of several associations, including Ca la Dona (Woman's House), the Centre Catòlic de L'Hospitalet (Catholic Center of L'Hospitalet) and the Centre d’Estudis de L'Hospitalet (L'Hospitalet Studies Center). She has also been affiliated with the CONC, a Catalan union confederated with the CCOO, since 1990, and served on the works council of the Linguistic Normalisation Consortium.

Political career

A member of the Republican Left of Catalonia since 1990, Simó was president of the local branch of ERC in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat from 1996 to 2002. She has been a member of the ERC's national council since 1994 and of its national executive council since 1998, serving as the party's national secretary for social policy from 2001 to 2004.[1]

Simó was elected to the city council of l'Hospitalet in May 2003 and named to the local council of the Barcelonès comarca, resigning both posts when she entered the Catalan government later that year.

She was elected to the Catalan parliament in 2006 and was the spokeswoman for the party's parliamentary group, a position she held since 2008.[1] Simó was named first secretary of the Parliament on 26 October 2015 until the dissolution of the parliament by the application of Article 155 on 27 October 2017.

Catalan independence crisis and judicial case
Main articles: Catalan independence referendum, 2017; Catalan declaration of independence; 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis; and Trial of Catalonia independence leaders

On 27 October 2017 the Catalan Parliament declared independence in a vote boycotted by opposition MPs.[2][3] Almost immediately the Senate of Spain invoked article 155 of the constitution, dismissing Puigdemont and the Catalan government and imposing direct rule on Catalonia.[4][5] The following day Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Catalan Parliament and called for fresh regional elections on 21 December 2017.[6][7]

On 30 October 2017 Spanish Attorney General José Manuel Maza laid charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds at the Supreme Court against Corominas and five other members of the Board of the Parliament of Catalonia (Ramona Barrufet, Carme Forcadell, Lluís Guinó, Joan Josep Nuet and Lluís Corominas).[8][9] Corominas was charged despite not being a member of the board at the time of the declaration of independence.[10] The charges carried maximum sentences of 30, 15 and 6 years in prison respectively.[11]

Simó and the other members of the board appeared before Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena on 9 November 2017. Nuet was released without any precautionary measures but the other five had to pay bail (€100,000 for Forcadell, €25,000 each for Barrufet, Corominas, Guinó and Simó), surrender their passport and present themselves at a court weekly.[12][13] The bail bonds were paid by the Catalan National Assembly.[14]

After a four-month judicial investigation into the referendum and declaration of independence Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena issued a 70-page ruling on 23 March 2018 in which he ordered that 25 of the 28 Catalan politicians and activists under investigation be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobedience.[15][16] Corominas was charged with disobeying an order of the Constitutional Court (article 410 of the criminal code).[17]

A pre-trial hearing commenced on 18 December 2018 at the Supreme Court at which defence lawyers argued that the court was not competent to hear charges of rebellion or disobedience and that it should be heard at the High Court of Justice of Catalonia.[18][19] On 27 December 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that, although they were competent to hear all the charges, the six defendants charged only with disobedience (Barrufet, Mireia Boya, Corominas, Guinó, Nuet and Simó) would be tried at the High Court of Justice of Catalonia.[20][21]

In 2019, she was one of the defendants in the Trial of Catalonia independence leaders.

Preceded by
Irene Rigau		 Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs
2003–2006		 Succeeded by
Carme Figueras

References
  1. "Anna Simó - Els blocs d'esquerra - Perfil" (in Catalan). Republican Left of Catalonia. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  2. "Catalans declare independence as Madrid imposes direct rule". BBC News. London, U.K. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  3. "Catalonia declares independence as Spain prepares to impose direct rule". The Independent. London, U.K. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. Jones, Sam; Burgen, Stephen; Graham-Harrison, Emma (28 October 2017). "Spain dissolves Catalan parliament and calls fresh elections". The Guardian. London, U.K. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  5. Burgess, Sanya (27 October 2017). "Catalan votes for independence as Madrid approves direct rule". The National. Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  6. "Catalonia independence: Rajoy dissolves Catalan parliament". BBC News. London, U.K. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  7. Smith-Spark, Laura; Rebaza, Claudia (28 October 2017). "Catalonia government dissolved after declaring independence from Spain". CNN. Atlanta, U.S.A. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  8. "Charges of rebellion and sedition called for by Spain's attorney general against Puigdemont and other Catalan officials". The Local. Stockholm, Sweden. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. Pérez, Fernando J. (30 October 2017). "La acusación quiere que los imputados reintegren 6,2 millones al erario público". El País (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  10. Serra, O. T. (30 October 2017). "Maza es querella per rebel·lió contra tot el Govern i els membres sobiranistes de la mesa del Parlament". Ara (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  11. Baynes, Chris (30 October 2017). "Catalonia independence: Spanish state prosecutor says Catalan leaders will be charged with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds". The Independent. London, U.K. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  12. Sánchez Ugart, Dani; Serra, O. T. (9 November 2017). "El jutge del Tribunal Suprem ordena presó eludible amb fiança de 150.000 euros per a Forcadell". Ara (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  13. Parera, Beatriz (9 November 2017). "Cárcel para Forcadell: prisión bajo fianza de 150.000€ para la presidenta del Parlament". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  14. Piñol, Àngels (9 November 2017). "L'ANC pagarà les fiances de Forcadell i de la resta de membres de la Mesa". El País (in Catalan). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  15. "The Latest: Europe Arrest Warrants for 6 Catalan Separatists". The New York Times. New York, U.S.A. Associated Press. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  16. Jones, Sam (23 March 2018). "Spanish court remands Catalan presidential candidate in custody". The Guardian. London, U.K. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  17. "Causa especial 2090/2017" (PDF) (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Supreme Court of Spain. 21 March 2018. pp. 68–69. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  18. Guindal, Carlota (18 February 2018). "Las defensas de los líderes independentistas: "Se han retorcido los derechos de los acusados"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  19. Liñán, Gemma (18 December 2018). ""The independence movement is on trial" say Catalan defence lawyers". El Nacional. Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  20. Rincón, Reyes (27 December 2018). "El Supremo divide en dos la causa contra los líderes del 'procés'". El País (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  21. "Six defendants in referendum case transferred to lower court". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
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