Catalan community groups take the Minister of Health to Superior Court with a Criminal Law Suite
"Several community groups in Catalonia have taken the Catalan Minister of Health, Boi Ruiz, to the Catalan Superior Court with a criminal law suit for the radical cutbacks in public health care carried out in the past two years. The law suit is based on Article 542 of the Spanish Criminal Code which says that it is an offense for a public official to impede citizens from carrying out their civic rights. And according to the Spanish Constitution, health care is a civic right.
The brutal cutbacks that the Ruiz administration has been carrying out in the past few months have included closing health care centers, shutting down emergency services, an increase of 42% in the waiting lists and many other austerity measures which have put Catalonians' health in danger. The groups that are suing Ruiz and 3 other leading health administrators, argue, with a 80-page law suit and 400 supporting documents, that Ruiz's excuse of having "economic problems" and "the crisis" for cutting back, are not valid, because no economic problem can justify braking the law, as Ruiz's administration has done and continues doing.
The law suit is also denouncing the following offenses regarding not providing help in emergency situations (Article 196 of the Spanish Criminal Code), traffic of influences (Article 428) and negotiations and activities forbidden to public officials (Article 441).
The groups that have presented the criminal law suit are: Liga del Síndrome Fatiga Crónica (the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis League), ATTAC-Acordem, ATTAC-Catalunya, CATAC-CTS-IAC (a public workers' union) and Dempeus per la Salut Pública ("On our Feet for Public Health"). These groups are under the umbrella of La PARS, Plataforma Afectadas por los Recortes Sanitarios (Regroupment of those affected by the health care cutbacks)."
