Maria Carme Forcadell i Lluís (; born 29 May 1955) is a Spanish politician from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. She is the former President of the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...

, as well as a Catalan high school teacher, known for her

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement (; ; ) is a Social movement, social and political movement with roots in Catalan nationalism that seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. While proposals, organizations and individuals advocating for Ca ...

activism. She was one of the founders of

Plataforma per la Llengua Plataforma per la Llengua (literally: Pro-Language Platform) is a non-governmental organization born in 1993 in Barcelona, in order to defend and promote the Catalan language all over the Catalan-speaking territories in the European states whe ...

, a member of the executive board of the

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

branch of

Òmnium Cultural Òmnium Cultural () is a Spanish association based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture. Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political i ...

, and president of the

Catalan National Assembly The Assemblea Nacional Catalana (in English: Catalan National Assembly, ANC by its Catalan acronym) is an organization that seeks the political independence of Catalonia from Spain. It also promotes the independence of other Catalan-speaking regi ...

from its inception until May 2015. In 2015, she won a seat in the

Catalan parliament The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as deputies (//), who are elected for four-year terms or after extraordinary ...

as part of the

Junts pel Sí Junts pel Sí (; , sometimes translated as "Together for the Yes"; JxSí) was a Catalan electoral, political and parliamentary alliance focused on achieving the independence of Catalonia from Spain. Established ahead of the 2015 Catalan regi ...

coalition. Subsequently, in October 2015 she was elected

President of the Parliament of Catalonia This article lists the presidents of the Parliament of Catalonia, the presiding officers of the regional legislature of Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nat ...

, a position she held until January 2018. Since March 2018 until June 2021, she was jailed, accused of rebellion. In October 2019, she was sentenced by Spain's Supreme Court to 11 years and six months in prison and disqualification for the crimes of sedition and embezzlement of public funds. She was freed in June 2021 following a government pardon.

Background

Forcadell was born in

Xerta Xerta () is a town and municipality of the ''comarca'' of Baix Ebre. It is established in a sharp bend to the right of the river Ebre, about 12 km upstream from the city of Tortosa in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Geographic ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. She is the daughter of a humble family; her father was a farmer and a truck driver. She was born in Xerta and at 18 she moved to Sabadell, where she currently lives. Forcadell has a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

communication studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

from the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

and a Masters in

Catalan philology Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #13 ...

from the same university. She worked at the television station TVE Catalunya from 1979 to 1982 and with various other media organizations. Forcadell has been a civil servant within the Catalan Department of Education since 1985, as the coordinator of linguistic normalization for the Department's Catalan Education Service since 1992, and then from 2004 on as a consultant of intercultural studies, language, and social cohesion in

Vallès Occidental Vallès Occidental () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in the Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona, Barcelona region in Catalonia (Spain). It has two capitals, Sabadell and Terrassa. Along with Vallès Oriental, it forms the historical Va ...

. She has published textbooks, books on language and literature, and a dictionary. She has been a contributing writer for various media outlets, writing about language planning, language, and identity. She is a member of the ''Comissió de la Dignitat'' (Commission on Dignity, an organization that works to have documents confiscated by the Franco regime returned to their rightful owners) and the ''Plataforma pel Dret de Decidir'' (Platform for the Right to Decide), where she is part of the communications committee.

Political career

Forcadell has been a member of

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya The Republican Left of Catalonia (, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and th ...

and served as a city councilperson for the political party in Sabadell from 2003 to 2007. On 22 April 2012 the members of the executive board of the

(ANC) chose Forcadell as president of the ANC. She was joined by Carles Castellanos as vice president and Jordi Martínez as secretary. During the summer of 2012, the ANC organized marches for independence all over Catalonia. As president of the ANC, Forcadell was one of the leading voices behind the organization of the 2012 " Catalonia, Next State in Europe" rallies and the

Catalan Way The Catalan Way (), also known as the Catalan Way towards Independence (), was a human chain (politics), human chain in support of Catalan independence from Spain. It was organized by the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) and supported by 14 no ...

in 2013. On 17 May 2014, she was reelected president of the ANC with 97% of the votes. Forcadell received the 2014 Joan Blanca Prize from the city of

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

in recognition of her commitment to the defense of Catalan culture and identity. On 16 May 2015,

Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: Sant Jordi – patron sa ...

succeeded her as President of the ANC. He was chosen by the members of the executive board despite Liz Castro's having received the most votes. The following July it was announced that Forcadell would be a candidate in the Catalan parliamentary elections to be held on 27 September, running second behind

Raül Romeva Raül Romeva i Rueda (born 12 March 1971) is a Catalan politician from Spain and a former Member of the European Parliament with the , part of the European Greens. He sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Comm ...

on the

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

of the pro-independence coalition

Together for Yes Together for Yes (TFY) is an Abortion-rights movements, abortion rights campaign group in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It campaigned successfully for a Yes vote Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 (Ireland), in the 2018 referend ...

for the province of Barcelona. On 26 October 2015 Forcadell was elected president of the Catalan parliament.

Imprisonment

After the

Catalan declaration of independence The Catalan declaration of independence ('')'' was a resolution that was passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017. While the text proclaims the independence of Catalonia from Spain and the establishment of an independent Catalan ...

on 27 October 2017, Forcadell was investigated by the Supreme Court for alleged crimes of rebellion and sedition. She first appeared in the Supreme Court on 2 November 2017 but the judge postponed her declaration as imputed for 9 November. On 9 November 2017 Forcadell was sent to Madrid's Alcalá Meco jail, only overnight, over her role as the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament for having processed in the Parliament a bill of

independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an Independence, independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independenc ...

, using an emergency procedure that was declared void by the Constitutional Court, violating the participation rights of the opposition parties and falsifying the publication of said project, because the secretary general of the parliament refused to process it, as it was unconstitutional. Also, to process the next day the ''Draft Law of legal transience'', which sought to unilaterally break the unity of Spain. She was released the same day with a precautionary bail of 150,000 euros. In December of the same year she was again elected to the Parliament elections this time for the candidature of

Esquerra Republicana The Republican Left of Catalonia (, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and th ...

. She renewed her status as a parliamentarian on 17 January 2018 but resigned to be re-elected president of the chamber and was succeeded by the deputy by Roger Torrent. On 24 March 2018, after the failed voting for the investiture of Jordi Turull as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, she resigned as deputy, along with Marta Rovira and

Dolors Bassa Dolors Bassa i Coll (born 1959) is an educator, educational psychologist and Spanish politician from Catalonia who held the position of Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Families in the Generalitat de Catalunya until Spain dismissed the Ca ...

. One day after, on 23 March 2018, Presidential candidate Jordi Turull, former parliament speaker Carme Forcadell and three deposed ministers were sent to pre-trial prison. On 1 February 2019 she was transferred back to the Madrilenian prison of Alcalá-Meco, to face the Judgment that began on 12 February 2019 and ended and was remitted to decision on 12 June 2019. On 14 October 2019, she was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and disqualification for sedition crime. The verdict was delivered by seven judges at Spain's supreme court, after a four-month trial with 422 witnesses.Sentencia del 'procés': penas de 9 a 13 años para Junqueras y los otros líderes por sedición y malversación
She was freed in June 2021 following a government pardon, together with other eight politicians imprisoned in connection with the Catalan independence referendum.

References

External links

Carme Forcadell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forcadell, Carme 1955 births 21st-century Spanish women politicians Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Catalan independence movement Catalan prisoners and detainees Living people Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 12th Parliament of Catalonia Municipal councillors in the province of Barcelona People from Baix Ebre Presidents of the Parliament of Catalonia Prisoners and detainees of Spain Republican Left of Catalonia politicians Women legislative speakers Women members of the Parliament of Catalonia Spanish politicians convicted of crimes