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 ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

with the , part of the

European Greens The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

. He sat on 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 adopts ...

's Committee on Foreign Affairs and its

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) is a committee of the European Parliament. Membership Chair Vice Chairs *Eugenia Rodríguez Palop *Sylwia Spurek * Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi *Robert Biedroń Members *Regina Bastos ...

. In the Catalan parliamentary election of 2015 he led the Pro-Independence electoral list,

Together for Yes Together for Yes (TFY) is an abortion rights campaign group in Ireland. It campaigned successfully for a Yes vote in the 2018 referendum to ratify the Thirty-sixth Amendment, which removed the Eighth Amendment's constitutional ban on abortion ...

. He was named Minister for External and Institutional Relations, and Transparency in the Catalan Regional Government under President

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...

on January 14, 2016 before his role was revoked by the Spanish Government on the 27th of October 2017, as part of the application of the constitution's

article 155 Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

during the

Catalan Crisis 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 # ...

. 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), and ...

, he lived in the Spanish capital until he was 9 years old, when he moved to

Caldes de Montbui Caldes de Montbui in Catalan or Caldas de Montbui in Spanish, is a Spanish town and municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia. It is situated in the upper valley of the Caldes river, and the highest point of the munici ...

, 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 (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

(UAB) thirteen years later, on 2002, he earned his PhD in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

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 Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

, 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

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

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

, 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 The Assemblea Nacional Catalana ("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 regions, which ...

. 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 The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

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 Oriol Junqueras i Vies (; born 11 April 1969) is a Catalan politician and historian from Spain. A former mayor of the municipality of Sant Vicenç dels Horts in Catalonia, Junqueras served as Vice President of Catalonia from January 2016 to Oct ...

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: * * * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romeva, Raul 1971 births Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Catalan prisoners and detainees Foreign ministers of Catalonia Initiative for Catalonia Greens MEPs Living people Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 12th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 13th Senate of Spain MEPs for Spain 2004–2009 MEPs for Spain 2009–2014 People from Madrid Prisoners and detainees of Spain People barred from public office Spanish politicians convicted of crimes