Jailed Catalan deputy leader asks for transfer to prison in home region

MADRID, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Former Catalan deputy leader Oriol Junqueras on Wednesday asked for a transfer to prison in the Catalan region, local media reported.

He also requested to be allowed to attend an initiation debate scheduled to be held at the Catalan regional assembly on Jan. 17.

Junqueras' lawyer presented the requests to Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llanera five days after the court refused to grant Junqueras bail.

He awaits trial on charges of rebellion, sedition and the misuse of public funds in relation to the Catalan independence referendum held on Oct. 1 and the subsequent unilateral declaration of independence in the region on Oct. 27.

Judges ruled on Jan. 5 that Junqueras could repeat the offences he has still to stand trial for, and refused to accept his claim he was "a man of peace" and committed to "dialogue."

Junqueras has been held in the Estremera prison outside Madrid since Nov. 2, which didn't stop him standing as a candidate and being elected as a representative for his Republican Left (ERC) party in the Dec. 21 Catalan elections.

He is not allowed to delegate his vote and would have to appear in the debate in person in order to cast his vote.

With pro-independence parties winning 70 seats in the 135-seat assembly and former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont (who also won a seat) currently in exile, his lawyer says the request is to ensure the "majorities" in the regional assembly are not affected.

The appeal to be moved to the Quatre Camin prison close to Barcelona also highlighted that Junqueras has two young children aged two and five, and that he also has "personal rights" to be close to them and his wife. Enditem