It was an impulse rather than a conscious decision.
The pressing need to get away, to get out, to shake off the pressure.
He felt it in a suffocating way, after weeks seeing her name involved in the
Democratic Tsunami case
, one early morning of the Christmas holidays.
That same night, with her partner and without a suitcase, Ruben Wagensberg, 37, she headed to Switzerland, where another leader of Esquerra Republicana, Marta Rovira, has been living for six years to escape the actions of Spanish justice.
Wagensberg does not like to talk about flight or exile.
He is not a fugitive because no one has summoned him to testify, but he is one of those investigated for terrorism in the National Court for his participation in Tsunami Democràtic, the platform that organized the protests against the procés ruling
in
October 2019. He agrees. He goes down and is now trying to take care of his mental health and join forces with human rights organizations that, like him, see the accusations of terrorism as “absurd.”
He does not seem ready “yet” to return, but he regrets having left his people.
“My life has stopped, and that is what makes me suffer the most,” he says in an interview by video call from Geneva.
Ask.
He says that he left for Switzerland because the pressure he felt was excessive.
He's been there for two months, where is she at?
Answer.
The situation hasn't changed much since I arrived.
Every day there is news of Tsunami.
I'd be lying if I said I got used to that pressure.
It's like following a
true crime
, but with you being the protagonist.
Q.
The Prosecutor's Office has concluded that there is no evidence to attribute a crime of terrorism
to you or to
former president Carles Puigdemont.
Does it calm you down?
A.
I think that is the thesis that adjusts to reality.
But experience shows that it is better not to celebrate anything, because a part of the judiciary is making political use of the cause of Democratic Tsunami.
Judge [Manuel] García-Castellón has made decisions as political events have progressed.
The accusations of crimes seemed to respond directly to the exclusions in the amnesty text... I have a feeling of great helplessness, and it is a serious precedent for the democratic system.
Q.
As an activist and politician you have been involved in the defense of refugees and human rights.
How do you feel that he is now associated with a crime like terrorism?
A.
With disbelief.
Sometimes, for pure survival, with humor.
I cannot believe that a crime that involves systematic violence, death, and the use of terror is attributed to me.
And even less so when I have been personally involved in helping people escape terrorism: in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan.
I have worked for the right to life, in a pacifist and militarist key.
It hurts to be associated with terrorism.
Q.
If you are summoned to testify, what will you do?
A.
I am convinced that the case will be closed.
But I have no problem answering to justice, because there is no crime.
Q.
There will be those who think that it makes no sense to go to Switzerland...
A.
I left because of the pressure I felt and in search of legal advice.
But I am not here preparing a judicial statement, but rather working on something deeper: denouncing that we are suffering from the political use of terrorism.
All the human rights organizations that have contacted me these weeks agree with this analysis.
Q.
Beyond the crime of terrorism, during the protests organized by Tsunami, in October 2019, there were episodes of violence.
Five years later, do you self-criticize?
A.
These days I have reviewed tweets and videos that were published, and they all talk about protesting with respect and pacifism.
A general strike can end with specific altercations, involving a few, and that does not mean that the union leaders are blamed.
The massive will of the citizens and the social and political leaders was for dialogue.
A moment from the interview with deputy Ruben Wagensberg.
Q.
What was your role in Tsunami?
A.
The character they say is me,
Konan
[according to the investigation, is the nickname she used in the Tsunami organization], has been inflated, and the only thing she does is explain how to guarantee that the protests are peaceful.
I cannot speak about a judicial process in which I am immersed, but my role in the
process
has always been from the perspective of pacifism and non-violence.
Q.
There is talk of the obstacles that some judges may place on the amnesty, but the truth is that the law has not been approved due to the refusal of Junts in Congress.
A.
It was not a day of joy.
The amnesty law is a colossal victory, without palliatives.
Every day we lose, we are giving room to the bloc that does not want this law and to a part of the judiciary.
Q.
Do you think it will end up being approved?
A.
I trust it, because the family situation of many people depends on it.
I appeal to the responsibility of PSOE and Junts.
Q.
And do you think that its application with judicial opposition will be viable?
A.
The process is well articulated, we should have no doubts.
But what we are experiencing gives us clues that a part of the judiciary will try to make its application difficult in some cases.
But it will be done, because in Catalonia there has been no terrorism or anything like it.
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