Oriol Junqueras is president of the Republican Left of Catalonia.
28 Facts About Oriol Junqueras
2.
Oriol Junqueras was elected to the European Parliament in 2009, a seat he held until January 2012.
3.
In January 2016, following an agreement between the Junts pel Si, an electoral alliance of which ERC was a part, and the Popular Unity Candidacy, Oriol Junqueras was appointed Vice President of Catalonia.
4.
At the regional elections held on 21 December 2017, Oriol Junqueras was re-elected to Parliament and Catalan pro-independence parties retained an absolute parliamentary majority.
5.
Oriol Junqueras was suspended as an MP by a Supreme Court judge on 10 July 2018.
6.
The European Court of Justice ruled on 19 December 2019 that Oriol Junqueras had parliamentary immunity as he was an elected MEP, and should have been released from prison.
7.
Oriol Junqueras was freed in June 2021 following a Spanish government pardon after he had served 3 and a half years.
8.
Oriol Junqueras was born on 11 April 1969 in Sant Andreu de Palomar, a neighbourhood in the Sant Andreu district of Barcelona, Spain.
9.
Oriol Junqueras's father was a high school teacher and his mother was a nurse.
10.
Oriol Junqueras's parents were persuaded by a nun to send him to the Liceo Italiano in Barcelona where he learned Italian.
11.
Oriol Junqueras then decided to continue in academia by pursuing a PhD at UAB.
12.
In 2002, Oriol Junqueras graduated with a doctorate in History of Economic Thought from UAB, where he later lectured in "Premodern History of East Asia" and "Bases of the Modern World" at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History.
13.
Oriol Junqueras has been invited to lecture at the University of Vic while in prison.
14.
Oriol Junqueras has been an advisor and scriptwriter to a variety of Catalan radio and television programmes on politics and history, including Conviure Amb el Risc, El Favorit, En Guardia and El Nas de Cleopatra, Els Maquis, La Guerra Silenciada and Minoria Absoluta and El Mon.
15.
Oriol Junqueras has co-authored several books including Els Catalans i Cuba, La Batalla de l'Ebre and La Preso Model de Barcelona.
16.
Oriol Junqueras is a member of the Center Excursionista of Sant Vicenc dels Horts and Orfeo Vicenti.
17.
Oriol Junqueras contested the 2003 local elections as a Republican Left of Catalonia-Acord Municipal electoral alliance candidate in Sant Vicenc dels Horts but failed to get elected.
18.
Oriol Junqueras contested the 2007 local elections as an ERC-AM candidate in Sant Vicenc dels Horts and was elected but the ERC-AM remained in opposition.
19.
Oriol Junqueras was re-elected at the 2011 local elections as a Junts per Sant Vicenc electoral alliance candidate.
20.
Oriol Junqueras became leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia in 2011.
21.
Oriol Junqueras was re-elected at the 2015 regional election as a Junts pel Si electoral alliance candidate.
22.
In January 2016, following a last-minute agreement between pro-Catalan independence parties JxSi and Popular Unity Candidacy to replace Mas, Oriol Junqueras was appointed Vice President of Catalonia and Minister of Economy and Finance.
23.
Oriol Junqueras was denied bail on 5 January 2018 by Supreme Court judges Miguel Colmenero, Alberto Jorge Barreiro and Francisco Monterde who said that "there is no sign that the defendant has any intention of abandoning the route he has followed until now".
24.
On 12 January 2018 Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena denied permission for Oriol Junqueras to attend the opening session of the Catalan Parliament, or for him to be transferred to a Catalan prison so that he could be closer to his relatives, but opened the way for him to vote by proxy.
25.
On 4 July 2018, Oriol Junqueras was transferred to Lledoners Prison in Catalonia.
26.
On 14 October 2019, Oriol Junqueras was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 13 years of prison and 13 years of inability to hold any public or private office.
27.
The European Court of Justice ruled on 19 December 2019 that Oriol Junqueras had parliamentary immunity as he was an elected MEP and should have been released from prison.
28.
Media related to Oriol Junqueras i Vies at Wikimedia Commons.