Raül Romeva i Rueda (born 12 March 1971) is a politician from Spain and a former
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Commu ...
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...
article 155
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during the Catalan Crisis. Romeva spent almost 4 years in prison from 2017 to 2021, and in 2019 was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for sedition along with other members of the Puigdemont government. He was pardoned in 2021 and freed from prison.
Childhood and education
Born in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
, he lived in the Spanish capital until he was 9 years old, when he moved to Caldes de Montbui, in the
province of Barcelona
Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...
at the same university.
Career
From October 1995 to August 1996, Romeva was the principal aide of the UNESCO representative in
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
, where he was responsible for the Educational programme and for promoting the UNESCO School of Peace Culture. He was also an observer for
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
during the elections in
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
in 1996 and 1997.
Romeva has been an assistant professor of International Relations at the UAB (1994–1995 and 1996–2002), researcher on peace and disarmament at the UNESCO Center of Catalunya (1994–1998) and campaign coordinator for disarmament and armed conflict prevention for Intermón-Oxfam (1998–1999). He contributes frequently to press and radio.
He began his association with (ICV) in Caldes de Montbui in 1989. In 1994 and again in 1999 he was a candidate to the European Parliament for ICV, and in 2004 was elected as a Member of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...
, where he held his seat until 2014. During this period, he was considered one of the most active politician of the European Parliament Chamber.
Romeva is currently a research analyst on armed conflict and postwar rehabilitation at the School of Peace Culture at the UAB. He is also the representative for who are responsible for the ' (Now is the Time) campaign, organized by Òmnium and the Catalan National Assembly.
On 15 July 2015, it was announced that Romeva would head Together for the Yes, the pro-independence list for Barcelona in the Catalan elections on 27 September 2015.
In the 2019 general election he was candidate to the Senate of Spain for the
Province of Barcelona
Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Oriol Junqueras and seven other advisers to the Carles Puigdemont government, enter the prison that same day. Although he left the prison on bail, on March 23 Judge Pablo Llarena re-sentenced him again without bail, being admitted to the Madrid VII Prison Center of Estremera. In July 2018, he was transferred to a prison in Catalonia. On February 1, 2019, he was transferred back to a prison in Madrid, expecting trial that started on February the 12th and ended and was remitted to decision on 12 June 2019.
On 14 October 2019 he was sentenced to a 12 years of prison term and disqualification for the sedition and misuse of public funds crimes.Sentencia del ‘procés’: penas de 9 a 13 años para Junqueras y los otros líderes por sedición y malversación
He was finally freed in June 2021 following a government pardon.
Publications
Romeva has written several books and articles, including:
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