Mr. Aamer Anwar, the lawyer of Ex- Catalan Minister Clara Ponsatí, "mixes up Catalonia's independence movement with Ceuta and Melilla's claims, since he believes that Spain has to be reclaimed by Islam". This is what an official diplomatic e-mail sent to the office of Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Josep Borrell, states. This message is just one of the 80 documents attached to a lawsuit filed by Mr. Vecino against the Spanish Foreign Office following his dismissal in June, to which Vozpópuli has gained access through judicial sources.
The former Spanish Consul in Edinburgh drafted a profile of Mr. Anwar, a prominent Muslim lawyer born in Pakistan, on 13th February, one day after the beginning of the trial of the Catalonia independence leaders at the Spanish Supreme Court. The start of the proceedings caused two demonstrations in Edinburgh and Glasgow in solidarity with the imprisoned Catalan leaders. Mr. Vecino stated that Mr. Anwar is very active on social media.
Statement at 3.30pm outside the court as @ClaraPonsati is released on bail from extradition hearing -“Hem guanyat la batalla però no la guerra, encara queda un llarg camí!” ?Si us plau, doneu suport i compartiu el llançament del meu crowdfunding jurídi https://t.co/5UH3krTOcP pic.twitter.com/Grl8lhZaxZ
— Aamer Anwar✊??️?#BlackLivesMatter (@AamerAnwar) November 14, 2019
The Edinburgh demonstration barely summoned fifteen people at first and after insisting on social networks, "the total number of interested people did not exceed 46". In the case of Glasgow, the act in favour of the Catalan prisoners "only managed to gather between twenty and twenty-five people who climbed a staircase".
Between the demonstrators, there was one of Glasgow's Counselors. However, for Mr. Vecino, the important detail was a different one. "In contrast with the past demonstrations, there were not any Scottish flags alongside the Catalan independentist flags", he noted. "It seems that the message that they want to get across is that this is an issue exclusive to Catalonia", Mr. Vecino added.
The person "who coordinated the demonstration in Glasgow against Spain" was the aforementioned lawyer of Ms. Ponsatí, who holds the position of rector of the University of Glasgow. He began his three-year term in 2017 and wants to use it as a "political catapult" for 2020 when this academic institution holds new elections.
Anwar began his steps in politics within the Labour Party but then leaned toward Scottish nationalism "by not progressing politically" as much as he wanted. The telegram from the Spanish diplomat underlines that Ms. Ponsatí's lawyer "is not very appreciated" within the Pakistani community, from "which he takes advantage of for his political purposes, without ever really doing anything for it".
Mr. Anwar's strategy
As a part of his strategy to thrive within the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), Ms.Ponsatí's lawyer "attracted Muslims" to the formation of Ms. Nicola Sturgeon, "becoming the leader of the Islamist group, thereby pretending to have a political weight that he obviously fails to achieve".
The Spanish representative reminds to their supervisors in Spain's Foreign's Office that Mr. Anwar almost lost his lawyer's license "two years ago for insulting the court" and today, "he presents himself as one of the best criminal lawyers in Scotland, but he is far from being one".
After the Catalan independence referendum and Ms. Ponsatí's decision to flee to Scotland, where she teaches at the University of St Andrews, Mr. Anwar became his lawyer in the face of the attempts by the Spanish judiciary to obtain his extradition. He created "an aid fund" for the former Catalan counselor, "although it was never officially known how much money she had raised", the diplomatic telegram stresses.
The last paragraph of the report enters fully into Mr. Anwar's activities against Spain. "He usually takes Muslims to demonstrations", Mr. Vecino emphasizes. " Usually he tends to mix concepts. In the Spanish case, he compares the independence of Catalonia with Ceuta and Melilla's nationalist claims, since he believes that Spain has to be reclaimed by Islam".
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