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Spain: 2 Catalan Separatists Start Hunger Strike in Prison

NYT
By The Associated Press
Dec. 1, 2018
                 
 
BARCELONA, Spain — Two leaders of Catalonia's separatist movement who have spent the last year in prison started a hunger strike on Saturday to protest what they claim is the unfair treatment by Spanish courts.

Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull, regional lawmakers in northeastern Catalonia, said in a statement distributed by the Catalan government that "we will never give up on our right to a fair trial."

Spain's government responded by saying that they and other separatist leaders will be treated just like any other citizens brought before the law.

The government led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement that "like all citizens who are subject to and protected by the rule of law, the separatist leaders will receive a fair trial."
 
Sanchez and Turull are two of nine separatist leaders who are in pre-trial custody for their role in an illegal secession attempt by Catalonia's leaders last year. Spain's state prosecutors will pursue charges of rebellion against both, asking for sentences of 17 years for Sanchez and 16 years for Turull.

Sanchez and Turull are being held in a prison near Barcelona, the largest city in the Catalonia region.
 
They have been kept behind bars with authorities saying they pose a risk of continuing to push for secession and fleeing Spain like other separatist leaders, including former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.

The trial is expected to start in the coming months.

Catalonia's current separatist leaders insist they won't desist in their effort to break away from the rest of Spain.

Election results and polls show that the 7.5 million resident of the wealthy Catalonia region are roughly equally divided by the secession issue.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




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IADL calls for release of Catalan political prisoners

IADL
3 Dec 2018
 

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) rejects and condemns the repressive action undertaken by the Spanish government against some pro-independence figures in Catalonia.
IADL calls for the immediate release of Catalan political prisoners, who have been held in pre-trial detention since October 2017 and demands the revocation of the arrest warrants issued against other personalities, who have at this time been forced into exile.
IADL requests both the Spanish government and the pro-independence parties to resume talks and revive a fruitful dialogue in order to achieve a peaceful solution of the Catalan issue, in the framework of existing current national, European and international law.
 
 




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AP Interview: Catalan separatists on hunger strike speak out

In this undated photo provided by Catalan language association Omnium Cultural, showing jailed Catalan separatist leaders posing for a photo inside Lledoners jail in Sant Joan de Vilatorrada, 50 kms from Barcelona, Spain, with left to right; Jordi Sanchez, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Cuixart, Josep Rull and Raul Romeva. Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull, have been in a medical ward since Friday Dec. 14, 2018, as the hunger strike by the group of Catalan politicians enters its third week and begins to take a toll on their health, but they say their upcoming treason trial will allow them to peacefully promote their cause for independence from Spain. (Maria Vernet/Omnium Cultural via AP)


APNews

By ARITZ PARRA
December 16, 2018
 

SANT JOAN DE VILATORRADA, Spain (AP) — As a hunger strike by jailed Catalan separatist politicians enters its third week and begins to take a toll on their health, they say their upcoming rebellion trial will allow them to peacefully promote their cause for independence from Spain.

In rare interviews in a prison north of Barcelona, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull, who has been in a medical ward since Friday, repeated calls for dialogue between Catalan’s regional government and Spain’s central authorities in Madrid. They also rejected any depiction of the secessionist movement in the prosperous northeastern region of Catalonia as violent.

Sanchez told The Associated Press that their trial, set to begin early next year, will be “a unique moment to denounce the attitude of the Kingdom of Spain contrary to the political and democratic rights in Catalonia.”

“We are not going to let this opportunity go to waste,” he added.

Spain says the 22 defendants in the case are being prosecuted not for their ideas but for defying court orders by holding a banned independence referendum in Catalonia last year and making an illegal attempt to secede.

Some of them have been indicted on charges of rebellion or sedition and face decades in prison in what local media have dubbed “the trial of the century” in Spain’s Supreme Court. A preliminary hearing will be held Tuesday, although the defendants are not expected in court until weeks later.

Catalonia’s banned independence referendum in October 2017, Spain’s violent crackdown to stop it and a subsequent declaration of independence by Catalan authorities led to an unprecedented seven-month takeover by central authorities of the region of 7.4 million people.

More than a year later, the shockwaves from the Catalan independence movement are still being felt across Spain. A political divide is growing between Catalan and Spanish nationalism, a development that has fueled the momentum of a far-right populist party that recently won a dozen seats in Andalusia’s regional parliament.

Sanchez emerged clad in three layers of clothes despite normal heating in the modern prison managed by the Catalan government. His doctor says a permanent chill is the result of not ingesting calories and adds that the 54 year-old has lost more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) since he began fasting on Dec. 1.

Turull, a former candidate to become the region’s chief, was sent to the Lledoners prison infirmary Friday because his kidneys have been affected after he shed over 13 pounds in two weeks. He tricks his body to ignore its hunger with nicotine.

Two more former Catalan cabinet members also joined the strike Dec. 3, but other inmates from a competing separatist political group, including former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, have chosen not to join, again exposing different approaches within the independence movement.

Turull said his protest comes with “a sense of responsibility” and he is not looking to starve to death.

“Its end depends on how far our strength takes us and on achieving our goal of calling attention to Spain’s judicial problem,” the 52-year-old lawyer said.

Their aim is to press Spain’s Constitutional Court to rule on appeals about their political rights and their prolonged pre-trial jailing. The strikers think the court is deliberately trying to block them from reaching the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where they hope to expose the judicial flaws they see at home.

The Spanish top court has recently begun to issue some rulings in a series of appeals and says that it’s working as fast as the judicial calendar allows it to in “dealing with the complexity of a case that affects fundamental rights and a careful analysis of criminal law.”

Central Spanish authorities see no reason for the hunger strike.

“Their arguments are false. They will have a fair trial because in Spain the judiciary is independent,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said recently, adding that his government rejects both taking politics to court and “politicizing justice.”

Although Spain’s system of appointing top justices and prosecutors has been questioned in and outside Spain, those who think it’s working list the numerous sentences against the country’s political and economic elite. One such ruling earlier this year led to Mariano Rajoy’s ousting as prime minister and brought Sanchez to power.

Sanchez, a Socialist, has tried a conciliatory tone, but his approach has not reduced tensions with the Catalan separatists. Hardening rhetoric against the nationalists has spread across Spain’s political spectrum and coincided with the ascent of Vox, a far-right party.

Turull, a longtime secessionist, says Spain’s far right is dragging other parties to its extremism and becoming “a machine of generating tensions” in Catalonia. He also says Sanchez should consider dialogue more than ever, including on the underlying issue of Catalan self-determination.

No prime minister in Spain has agreed to that in the past, arguing it goes against Spain’s constitution. With polls showing that Catalan society is evenly divided on the issue of independence, Sanchez instead defends more self-government in Catalonia as a solution, and says he would rather spend time talking about social and economic policies.

“There are ways to delve into the core issue without anyone having to give up their fundamental positions,” Turull said in the prison visiting room.
But he warned that talks are not going to yield progress if they are done for political gains.

“They should be in the realm of utmost discretion, away from the microphones,” he said.

The jailed politician rejects the idea that taking a weekly central government meeting to Barcelona amid extraordinary security measures next week is “a way of showing affection to Catalonia,” as Sanchez has put it.

Separatists are supporting protests against the cabinet’s presence in the Catalan capital while jockeying for a meeting between the prime minister and Catalonia’s regional chief, Quim Torra, whose cabinet has been criticized for not responding effectively to violent protesters.

Turull said those favoring secession “should be stricter than ever against those who make us look bad.”

“We have a red line, which is achieving our goals peacefully, using mediation and dialogue. We are never going to put anybody at risk,” he declared.
 




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Catalan Hunger Strikers Send Message to European Leaders




NYT

By REUTERS

17-12-2018

Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders currently on hunger strike sent letters to more than 40 European heads on Monday to protest what they see as mistreatment by the Spanish courts.

The dispute between Catalonia's independence-seeking regional government and Madrid has worsened in recent weeks as negotiations have reached an impasse. Pro-independence protests are planned across Catalonia on Friday.

"We suffer from a judicial process that severely violates our fundamental rights, including the right to the presumption of innocence," the Catalan leaders wrote in the letter, which was sent to more than 40 European heads of state and government.

Spain's courts are unduly delaying their appeal demands to prevent the separatists appealing at the European level, the Catalan leaders said.

The four signatories went on hunger strike earlier this month to protest their treatment by the Spanish judiciary, though they have no intention of starving themselves to death, one told Reuters last week.

A total of nine Catalan leaders are in jail awaiting trial for their role in the region's failed bid to split from Spain last year. If convicted, they face decades in prison on charges including misappropriation of funds and rebellion.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his cabinet will travel to Barcelona on Friday for a meeting to be held amid high security as pro-independence groups have announced plans to hold protests and block transport in the region.

(Reporting by Sam Edwards; Editing by Angus MacSwan)






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International Trial Watch: experts set up platform to supervise Catalonia’s independence trial

International observers will determine if the right to defense and impartial trial are respected



VILAWEB

18-12-2018



A group of judicial and human rights experts, as well as professors throughout Spain, have set up a platform called ‘International Trial Watch – Catalan Referendum case’ to supervise the trial against independence leaders, presented on Monday.

At the event, criminal law professor Iñaki Rivera stated that they are creating reports to determine if the “right to defense, the existence and duration of pre-trial incarceration, and impartial trial, balance between parties, and the taking of evidence” are respected, along with the competency of the Supreme Court in the trial.







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Catalan political crisis 'should speak to all democrats'

JOAQUIM Forn was Catalonia’s interior minister until he was arrested for his role in the October 2017 independence referendum. He has been in jail since.


THE NATIONAL

18th December 2018



Exclusive by GREG RUSSELL



Forn has also been on hunger strike for two weeks, one of four prisoners taking this drastic course of action. Here, he talks about his incarceration, the forthcoming trials and Europe.

What is your view of events such as the continuing refusal of European leaders to take up your cases; and the way Spain is lurching further to the right almost every day?

I am worried that Europe turns its back on the situation we are in. What is happening is a clear violation of civil rights and liberties. In Spain, an involution is happening as a consequence of a weak left that is being dragged by the discourse of the PP (People’s Party) and Ciudadanos (Citizens) and also due to the rise of the extreme right with Vox.

Europe should not be unconnected to this regression and should position itself in defence of our liberties.

The political prisoners have a huge amount of support with daily protests outside Lledoners – does that support give you more strength?

Absolutely. Some of us have been for more than a year in pretrial and preventative detention. First in prison in Madrid and now in Catalunya.

These last few months have been very tough and we have been able to overcome them thanks to the support from our families and the societal mobilisation that there is in Catalunya.

From the prison courtyard we can hear the chants and shouts of support. Without this great support, the situation would have been more difficult to bear.

You have been on hunger strike now for two weeks, are you not worried that this protest can damage you?

We have not imposed a time limit upon ourselves. Our hunger strike aims to denounce the inaction of the Constitutional Court (TC), which has not reviewed our appeals. Some of these were submitted a year ago. The court, who should be the guarantor of our rights, is acting subordinate to political interests and is denying us access to European justice.

What we are enduring in Spain should not only worry independence supporters. Any democrat should react to this arbitrariness. We are clearly worried about the possible consequences to our health. The medical services from jail check us daily. We cannot forget that our trial is starting next month and that we should confront it in the best possible condition, both physical and mentally.

The TC judges have said they will hear you appeals next month (and will hear some cases before then) – do you believe that they will stick to that timetable?

From the moment we started the hunger strike, the TC made some moves. This week, it has started to resolve five of almost 30 appeals that all the defendants have presented.

Next week it will continue to resolve other appeals. It is clear that the TC knows it has not acted according to the law and should face our complaint.

How do you view the world’s response to what is happening in Catalonia?

I would like there to be a bigger awareness of what is happening in Spain. The governments of both PP and PSOE (Spanish Socialist Party) have dismissed dialogue, which is the political way, and have ended up imposing criminal law solutions against the political demands of millions of Catalans.

The fact that in Europe, in the 21st century, we are talking about exiled and imprisoned politicians should worry the European states and citizens. The crisis being lived in Catalunya should speak to all democrats. The debate about liberties is very alive in Europe and the world, so we cannot turn our backs as if this debate does not concern us.

How worrying is the prospect of not receiving a fair trial?

Without a doubt, we are very worried. In any case, I see the trial as an opportunity. We are not in the pretrial proceedings any more, so now the accusations need to be argued with proof.

The prosecution wanted to create the narrative of rebellion and sedition, based on the police reports from the Civil Guard and the National Police. The German courts have compellingly ruled out these crimes. The trial will be broadcast live, with the presence of international observers.

I have not lost faith and I truly think that with the criminal code in hand, the only possible sentence is absolution.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I would like to thank the Scottish people for showing their solidarity and support. We have received hundreds of letters and postcards. We cannot answer them all which is why I want to take this opportunity to thank them for their gesture.






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Jailed Catalan Speaker Forcadell appeals to European court

Carme Forcadell was the speaker of the Catalan parliament until January - but has spent almost nine months in prison.



BBC News

By Niall O'Gallagher

19Decembre2018



The 63-year-old was jailed in March, facing charges of rebellion for her part in the 2017 push for Catalan independence.

She spends 15 hours a day alone in her cell. If convicted, she faces up to 17 years in prison.

Now she is calling on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to order her release.

In a rare interview at the Mas d'Enric prison, Ms Forcadell told the BBC that life in her 10 square-metre cell was proving difficult.

"Every day is very hard because you know you are innocent but you don't know how many days and nights you'll stay locked up," she said. "I greatly miss my family and those I love."

"It is especially hard for my mother, who is 90 years old and suffers a lot. Also for my husband and my sons – I want to get out soon for them. When they come to see me, I see the suffering reflected in their eyes."

At home in Sabadell, her husband Bernat Pegueroles is also having a hard time.

"It has broken the family, in a way," he said.

"My sons get on with their lives, but they are suffering too because their mother isn't here. We have a one-year-old grandson and she hasn't seen him growing."

"Now he has started walking, and she is excited when we visit – but the lad doesn't recognise her," he said.

Who is Carme Forcadell?

Ms Forcadell was the speaker of the Barcelona parliament when it voted to declare Catalonia an independent republic on 27 October last year, following a disputed vote in the region a few weeks earlier.

She spent a single night in jail that November before being released on bail – but was sent back to prison in March 2018.

Her legal team are filing a petition with the ECHR in Strasbourg, saying Ms Forcadell's pre-trial detention breaches her human rights.

The trial is expected to begin in Spain in the new year.

What is her case?

Spanish prosecutors allege that Ms Forcadell was part of a conspiracy to achieve independence illegally – specifically, that she allowed parliamentary debates on independence to go ahead despite warnings from Spain's Constitutional Court.

Yet Ms Forcadell insists she did nothing wrong.

 

"My role as speaker of the parliament cannot be to censor the debate, if there is a parliamentary majority which has been elected in free and democratic elections and which wants to speak about this subject," she said.

"My duty is to defend the sovereignty of parliament, freedom of expression, political pluralism, and the right of initiative of the deputies."

"In a democratic parliament, the word has to be free. One has to be able to speak about everything. The only limit must be respect for fundamental rights," she said.

Eight other Catalan leaders are in jail awaiting trial in connection with the October 2017 push for independence. They are:

  • Dolors Bassa, former labour minister

  • Jordi Sànchez, former president, Catalan National Assembly

  • Oriol Junqueras, former vice-president

  • Jordi Cuixart, president of Omnium Cultural

  • Jordi Turull, former Catalan government spokesman

  • Josep Rull, former territorial minister

  • Joaquim Forn, former interior minister

  • Raul Romeva, former external relations minister

 

What does Spain say?

Teresa Cunillera, the Spanish government's delegate in Barcelona, denies there are political prisoners in Catalonia.

Instead, she said "there are some politicians who, in exercising their responsibilities, broke the law".

 

"So the courts acted, and as a result they are now in the hands of justice," she said.

Spain's Supreme Court held an initial hearing on Tuesday to decide whether it was competent to hear the trial.

Defence lawyers want the case to be tried by a court in Catalonia, but others have faith in the courts in Madrid.

Inés Arrimadas leads the pro-Spain Citizens party in the Barcelona parliament.

"I wish they hadn't done what they did, but they declared independence," she said.

"They approved a rule which went outside the Spanish constitution, they denied our rights, they silenced us as the opposition in the parliament of Catalonia."

"I think that politicians have to answer before the law like any other citizen."

 




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‘I’m in jail for fulfilling the mandate expressed by Catalan society’

Interview: Imprisoned politician Josep Rull awaits trial for rebellion





THE IRISH TIMES

 

By GUY HEDGECOE

Decembre 20, 2018

 

In early November 2017, Josep Rull, the former Catalan minister for territory and sustainability, posted the following on his Twitter account: “If you see this tweet then I’ve been jailed for being loyal to the ballot box.”

More than 13 months later, Rull (50) is still in prison, although he was released on bail for several weeks earlier this year. He and 17 other pro-independence leaders are awaiting trial for their alleged role in Catalonia’s failed bid for independence last year and nine of them are in custody. At the beginning of December, Rull and three others – Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull and Joaquim Forn – began a hunger strike at Lledoners prison where they are being held.

Their protest is driven by the fact that they remain in jail even though their trial has no scheduled date. They also argue that the Spanish judiciary has deliberately blocked appeals they have made in order to prevent their complaints from reaching the European Court of Human Rights.

“I want my case – and those of my colleagues – to reach the European courts,” Rull told The Irish Times, in a written interview carried out via email. “But the Spanish courts put up obstacles because they fear being undermined by a truly impartial and independent judiciary.”

The Catalan government says Rull has lost 7kg since beginning the strike. Yet the quartet who are carrying out the action appear to have embarked on it with caution. Jordi Sànchez told a radio interviewer recently: “I don’t want to be the Catalan Bobby Sands.” He added: “We haven’t gone crazy. We’re not going to immolate ourselves.”

 

Reoffending

The supreme court says it was keeping Rull and the other prisoners in custody in order to prevent them from reoffending and from fleeing the country, as former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and several others did.

The independence movement has sought to place the nine imprisoned leaders, who also include former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, at the centre of Spain’s ongoing territorial crisis. It argues they are political prisoners being punished for their views, not their actions.

Rull says that he is “in jail for fulfilling the mandate expressed by Catalan society in democratic elections: calling a referendum and applying its result”, a reference to the outlawed independence vote held in October 2017, during which police attacked many Catalans as they attempted to cast their vote.

As for the upcoming trial, Rull says that the guilt of the defendants is a foregone conclusion. If he is found guilty, he could face a jail sentence of up to 16 years for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Junqueras faces a possible 25-year sentence.

“Our trial does not have the objective conditions necessary to make it trustworthy,” Rull says, adding that after the verdict he will appeal to the European judiciary. “I want to take the opportunity to show how this trial is designed [by Spain] to serve as a lesson to those who want independence, with the aim of making them give up their desire for freedom.”

 

Recent controversies

A string of recent controversies within the Spanish judiciary – including some affecting the supreme court – has helped fuel such criticism, despite the insistence of the central government and others that the trial will be fair.

Yet while the hunger strike seeks to draw international attention to the Catalan issue, it also seems to have underlined divisions within the independence movement. The four prisoners carrying out the protest are all members of the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) parliamentary group, whose relationship with the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), which represents four of the other prisoners, has been deteriorating.

On Wednesday, five former Catalan presidents, including Carles Puigdemont, were among those who appealed to the hunger strikers to call off their action in order to safeguard their health.

Rull, however, denies that the strike could make relationships within the independence movement worse.

“The movement is broad and diverse,” he says. “It’s not necessary for us all to do the same thing because we all respect the peaceful actions of others.”  

Yet the movement’s unity is clearly under pressure and the Catalan president, Quim Torra of JxCat, is struggling to balance the political demands of his post with the need to remain popular among grassroots activists. His recent praise for the Slovenian route to independence, which saw dozens of people killed in 1991, has been seen as a mistake by many, including some allies.

Unimpressed

But Rull insists that blame for the lack of improvement in relations between Madrid and Catalonia lies squarely with Spain’s Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. His efforts to reduce tensions by taking a series of measures aimed at normalising the relationship with the region have left pro-independence Catalans unimpressed.

“[The] Spanish government should take much bolder steps in order to be able to embark on an effective process of political dialogue, which is the only way of finding solutions to the conflict,” Rull says.

Yet it is the political right that appears to have been emboldened, demanding that Sánchez reintroduce direct rule in Catalonia. Meanwhile, the leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, has dismissed the hunger strike as a “high-protein diet”.

Reckless response

There is speculation in many quarters that if Spain’s political turmoil continues, resulting in a reckless response to the Catalan crisis by Madrid, it could benefit the independence movement, which already casts itself as the victim of an undemocratic state.

“There are, without a doubt, pro-independence Catalans who think like that, but I’m not one of them,” says Rull.

“Anyway, the ones who benefit most from the tensions between Catalonia and Madrid are not the Catalan [pro-independence] parties but rather the Spanish parties which share the vision of Spain that the Franco regime had.”

 

© 2018 irishtimes.com








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Catalan separatists appeal to UN rights body in Geneva

Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and five other separatist leaders from the region have appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva, denouncing what they call the “suspension” of their political rights by Spanish authorities.



SWISSINFO

Decembrer 20, 2018


(© KEYSTONE / MARTIAL TREZZINI)



Speaking to journalists in the Swiss city on Thursday, Puigdemont said that the joint appeal to the rights body aimed to denounce the “serious violation of rights and freedoms in Spain, something unacceptable in the framework of European Union law”.


Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras, Raul Romeva, Josep Rull, Jordi Sanchez, and Jordi Turull are all members of Catalonia’s parliament, but were charged and suspended from taking office by the Spanish Supreme Court for their role in organizing an October 2017 independence referendum in Catalonia in northeast Spain.


“Six people, democratically-elected and not yet convicted – five of whom have been detained for over a year – cannot exercise their rights,” said Puigdemont.


Having been accused of rebellion and sedition by Spanish authorities after the unauthorized referendum, Puigdemont has since lived in Belgium. An international arrest warrant against him was withdrawn last July.


Puigdemont and Sanchez, president of the independent association ANC, had already filed a separate complaint to the same UN rights body in March 2018 to denounce their "impossibility of running for president of the Generalitat” [the Catalan government]. The UN committee has yet to take any decision on the complaints.


+ Puigdemont said the Swiss federal model could offer a vision for Spain


It’s not the first time the emblematic Catalan figure has visited Geneva; an international human rights film festival hosted him for a debate on self-determination in March, a visit from which cantonal authorities distanced themselves.


Several other ‘wanted’ separatists, including Anna Gabriel and Marta Rovira, have sought exile in Switzerland following their condemnation in Spain.


Thursday’s action in Geneva comes as the Catalan separatist row shows no signs of ending. This week, four imprisoned leaders of the movement ended an almost three-week hunger strike, while Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has chosen to hold this Friday’s cabinet meeting in Barcelona – a deliberate “provocation”, for some Catalan supporters.





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Catalunya, Europa, democràcia

Un manifest italià que demana la llibertat dels presos polítics i ‘el retorn’ a la normalitat democràtica a l’estat espanyol suma centenars d’adhesions. El text l’ha impulsat una quarantena d'intel·lectuals i polítics italians i l’han publicat al mitjà d’esquerres Left.it

A Madrid, al cor d’Europa occidental, dotze representants de la política i de la societat civil de Catalunya són en aquests dies sota judici. Nou d’ells són en presó preventiva, en molts casos des de fa més d’un any. Els càrrecs són molt greus i la fiscalia els demana penes que poden arribar fins a 25 anys.

 

Entre els presumptes delictes de què se’ls acusa hi ha el de "rebel·lió": és la figura criminal utilitzada per a aquells que el 1981 van irrompre armats dins el parlament espanyol i van treure els tancs al carrer. Efectivament, el codi penal espanyol, en la tipificació d’aquest delicte, requereix l’element de la "alçament violent".

L'única violència fins ara clarament visible i que ha aparegut en gran nombre d’imatges que han fet la volta al mon, és tanmateix la emprada per les forces policials espanyoles, sortint de tot arreu del país cap a Catalunya amb el crit amenaçador de "a por ellos!"; pegant votants i manifestants (fins i tot no independentistes) que resistien pacíficament, amb els braços alçats, defensant els col·legis electorals; disparant bales de goma als ciutadans,  tot i que el seu ús està prohibit a Catalunya.

 

Però la història judicial no s’acaba a Madrid, davant el Tribunal Suprem. Altres acusats son jutjats (per desobediència i altres delictes) pels tribunals de Catalunya; hi ha centenars d'alcaldes, activistes socials, artistes, investigats (i en alguns casos condemnats) per haver contribuït d’alguna manera a la preparació del referèndum o simplement per expressar les seves idees (eloqüent, en aquest sentit, l'Informe Amnistia Internacional 2017 / 18, pàgines 339-341).

Hi ha, a més, set polítics, tant parlamentaris com membres de l'anterior govern català que es van refugiar a Bèlgica, Escòcia i Suïssa per no ser detinguts i per continuar la seva acció política des de l’exterior: són ciutadans lliures a tot Europa, perquè arran de la decisió d’un tribunal alemany en el cas de Puigdemont, l’autoritat judicial espanyola va retirar totes les euroordres d’arrest en contra d’ells.

 

Més enllà de les anomalies tècniques dels procediments judicials (destacades per diversos observadors internacionals), és evident el què està passant: s’està discutint als tribunals una qüestió eminentment política, que mai no hauria d’haver sortit del camp de la política. Es criminalitza tota una classe política, la responsabilitat de la qual és haver intentat obligar les institucion espanyoles, tancades radicalment al diàleg, a obrir-se. S'oblida que més de dos milions de ciutadans catalans han estat demanant des de fa anys, d'una manera correcta i pacífica, poder-se expressar lliurement i democràticament sobre quina hauria de ser l'estructura de les relacions entre Espanya i Catalunya.

Només des d’una posició de nacionalisme intransigent es pot mantenir que la qüestió de la independència de Catalunya sigui un tema sobre el qual ni tan sols es pot obrir el debat democràtic; només des d’una posició il·liberal es pot considerar preferible la limitació dels drets fonamentals civils i polítics.

 

El silenci d’Europa, que liquida l’afer com una qüestió interna a Espanya, és deplorable i perillós. És un signe de debilitat de les institucions europees, no de força, i contribueix a la radicalització del conflicte, no a la seva resolució. Si la UE accepta la criminalització de la protesta pacífica i de la desobediència civil en un país membre de la rellevància d'Espanya, els que son amenaçats son els drets de tots els demòcrates, no només dels catalans, sinó dels espanyols i dels europeus. I aquest silenci és fins i tot vergonyós quan el Parlament Europeu prohibeix als polítics catalans refugiats a l’estranger participar en una conferència organitzada a les seves instal·lacions tot permetent, gairebé simultàniament, un debat anti-catalanista promogut per Vox, un partit espanyol d’extrema dreta, obertament i programàticament homòfob, masclista, xenòfob.

 

És preocupant també l'escassa atenció d’una part de la premsa, l'opinió i els intel·lectuals del nostre país envers aquesta qüestió. En l’escenari descrit, creiem, al contrari, que és totalment necessari el compromís i el control vigilant de tots aquells que es preocupen per la protecció dels drets, els valors democràtics i els principis consagrats en els propis tractats de la UE.

Demanem, com a ciutadans europeus, l'alliberament dels presos catalans, el retorn a una situació de normalitat democràtica i l’obertura d’un diàleg polític sobre la qüestió, l’únic camí que pot conduir a una solució coherent amb els valors de la democràcia.

El destí de Catalunya és el nostre destí i el destí de tot Europa.

 

[traducció al català: Marco Giralucci - Isabel Turull]


 

Maurizio Acerbo, segretario nazionale PRC-Sinistra Europea, Roma

Luigi Agostini, saggista, Roma

Matteo Angioli, Partito Radicale, Roma

Vando Borghi, Università di Bologna

Bojan Brezigar, giornalista, Trieste

Luca Cassiani, Consigliere PD Regione Piemonte, Torino

Luciano Caveri, giornalista e politico, Aosta

Lluís Cabasés, giornalista, Alba

Massimo Cacciari, filosofo, Venezia

Duccio Campagnoli, ex Assessore Emilia-Romagna, Bologna

Elisa Castellano, Fondazione Di Vittorio, Roma

Pietro Cataldi, Rettore dell’Università per stranieri di Siena

Nancy de Benedetto, Presidente Associazione italiana di studi catalani, Università di Bari

Luigi de Magistris, sindaco di Napoli

Piero Di Siena, giornalista, Roma

Fausto Durante, Resp. politiche internazionali ed europee Cgil, Roma

Paolo Ferrero, vice presidente del Partito della Sinistra Europea, Torino

Gennaro Ferraiuolo, Università di Napoli Federico II

Luigi Foffani, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Eleonora Forenza, Parlamentare europea GUE/Ngl, Rifondazione comunista, Bari

Laura Harth, Rappresentante alle Nazioni Unite del Partito Radicale, Roma

Rafael Hidalgo, insegnante, Ràdio Catalunya Itàlia, Roma

Andrea Maestri, Avvocato per i diritti umani, Ravenna

Fabio Marcelli, ISGI CNR, Associazione giuristi democratici, Roma

Maria Grazia Meriggi, Università di Bergamo

Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna

Cesare Minghini, sindacalista CGIL, Bologna

Tomaso Montanari, Università di Siena, Firenze

Simone Oggionni, Responsabile Forum Europa MDP-Articolo 1, Roma

Fiorella Prodi, segreteria regionale Cgil Emilia-Romagna, Modena

Roberto Rampi, senatore PD, Vimercate (MB)

Patrizio Rigobon, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Simonetta Rubinato, avvocato, ex senatrice e deputata, Treviso

Emilio Santoro, Università di Firenze, Centro di documentazione “L’altro diritto”

Rossella Selmini, Università del Minnesota, Minneapolis-Bologna

Barbara Spinelli, giornalista e Parlamentare europea GUE/Ngl, Roma

Massimo Torelli, coordinatore nazionale di Altra Europa Con Tsipras, Firenze

Gianni Vernetti, ex senatore e sottosegretario agli Affari esteri, Torino

Walter Vitali, Direttore esecutivo Urban@it – Centro nazionale studi politiche urbane, Bologna


 

Cristina Accardi, studentessa, Salemi (TP)

Carla Acocella, Università Suor Orsola Benincasa di Napoli

Ivana Aiello, avvocato, Avellino

Rosalba Altopiedi, Università del Piemonte Orientale

Anna Amat, CNR Perugia

Umberto Amato, IMM CNR Napoli

Luciana Ambrosino, copywriter, Napoli

Giso Amendola, Università di Salerno

Virginia Amorosi, avvocato, Lecce.

Daniele Amoroso, Università di Cagliari

Giorgio Andreoli, psicologo, Milano

Simona Anichini, traduttrice, Firenze

Sara Antoniazzi, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Francesco Ardolino, Universitat de Barcelona

Gennaro Avallone, Università di Salerno

Edoardo Balletta, Università di Bologna.

Danilo Barbi, sindacalista Cgil, Bologna

Giuliano Barbolini, ex senatore PD, Modena

Albert Barreda, pittore, Savona

Ursula Bedogni, traduttrice, Barcelona

Marzia Bertazzoni, impiegata, Parma

Gabriele Bettelli, responsabile MDP, Modena

Imma Boixadós, agente immobiliare, Bra (CN)

Mirka Bonomi, pensionata, Ostia (Roma)

Enric Bou, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Mario Bravi, presidente IRES Umbria, Terni

Stefania Buosi Moncunill, insegnante, Trieste

Rosa Maria Caballé, dipendente pubblico, Bologna

Marco Calaresu, Università di Sassari

Domenico Caminiti, ingegnere, Torino

Stefano Campus, funzionario amministrativo, Presidente Òmnium Cultural de L'Alguer

Fulvio Capitanio, economista, Aiguafreda (Barcellona)

Flora Cappelluti, giornalista, Milano

Lìdia Carol, Università di Verona

Maria Carreras Goicochea, Università di Catania

Imma Caruso, Napoli, ISSM-CNR

Sergio Caserta, attivista e blogger, Bologna

Giovanni Castagno, insegnante, Roma

Giovanni C. Cattini, Università di Barcellona

Ivan Cecchini, dirigente pubblico, Bellaria-Igea Marina

Giulio Ceci, libero professionista, Roma

Giovanni Cherubini, ingegnere, Gilching (Germania)

Federico Chicchi, Università di Bologna

Claudia Ciavatta, dipendente pubblico, Roma

Adriano Cirulli, Università La Sapienza di Roma

Elena Coccia, Napoli, consigliere comunale Napoli, Sinistra in comune

Maria Teresa Colarossi, insegnante, Tivoli (Roma)

Gemma Teresa Colesanti, ISEM CNR Napoli

Maria Cristina Coliva, pensionata, Bologna

Mauro Colombarini, sindacalista Spi-CGIL, Bologna

Anna Maria Compagna, Università di Napoli Federico II

Michele Conia, Sindaco di Cinquefrondi (RC)

Roberto Cornelli, Università di Milano Bicocca

Giacomo Comincini, studente, Pavia

Enrico Curti, imprenditore, Riomaggiore (SP)

Salvatore D'Acunto, Seconda Università di Napoli.

Ettore D’Agostino, insegnante, Torino

Francesco D’Agresta, coordinatore provinciale MDP Pescara

Patrizia D'Antonio, insegnante, Roma

Elisa D’Ugo, studentessa, Roma

Pasquale D'Ugo, agente di commercio, Roma

Gaspare Dalia, Università di Salerno

Full Article



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La Catalogna, l’Europa, la democrazia

Un manifesto per chiedere la libertà dei prigionieri politici catalani e il ritorno alla normalità democratica in Spagna sta raccogliendo centinaia di adesioni. Promosso da una quarantina di intellettuali e politici italiani, è stato pubblicato dal sito internet Left.it




 

A Madrid, nel cuore dell’Europa occidentale, dodici esponenti della politica e della società civile catalana sono in questi giorni sotto processo. Nove di essi si trovano in regime di detenzione preventiva, in molti casi da ben oltre un anno. I capi di imputazione sono gravissimi, con richieste di pena da parte della pubblica accusa che arrivano sino a 25 anni.

Tra i reati contestati vi è la “ribellione”: si tratta della figura criminosa utilizzata per chi, nel 1981, entrò con le armi in parlamento e portò in strada i carri armati. Il codice penale spagnolo, in effetti, richiede, nella tipizzazione del reato, l'elemento della "rivolta violenta". L’unica violenza finora certa, per le innumerevoli immagini che la mostrano e che hanno fatto il giro del mondo, è però quella messa in atto dalle forze dell'ordine spagnole: che partono da ogni angolo del Paese per la Catalogna al grido minaccioso di "a por ellos!" (“a prenderli!”; “dategli addosso!”); che picchiano votanti e manifestanti – anche non indipendentisti – intenti a resistere pacificamente, con le braccia alzate, in difesa dei seggi; che sparano proiettili di gomma sui cittadini, nonostante il loro utilizzo sia vietato in Catalogna.

Ma la vicenda giudiziaria non si esaurisce a Madrid, innanzi al Tribunal Supremo. Altri imputati verranno giudicati (per disobbedienza e ulteriori reati) da Tribunali in Catalogna; centinaia i sindaci, gli attivisti sociali, gli artisti indagati (e in alcuni casi condannati) per aver contribuito in qualche modo alla preparazione del referendum o per aver semplicemente manifestato le loro idee (eloquente, in tal senso, l’Amnesty International Report 2017/18, pp. 339-341). Vi sono, poi, i sette politici, sia parlamentari che componenti del precedente governo catalano rifugiatisi in Belgio, Scozia e Svizzera per sfuggire all’arresto e continuare a condurre la propria azione politica dall’estero. Sono liberi cittadini in tutta Europa, visto che, anche a seguito della decisione del tribunale tedesco nel caso Puigdemont, l’autorità giudiziaria spagnola ha ritirato tutti gli ordini d’arresto europeo a loro carico. Al di là delle anomalie tecniche dei procedimenti giudiziari (evidenziate da diversi osservatori internazionali), è evidente ciò che sta accadendo: si discute, nelle aule dei tribunali, di una questione eminentemente politica, che dal campo della politica non sarebbe mai dovuta uscire. Si criminalizza un’intera classe politica, la cui responsabilità è quella di aver cercato di smuovere le istituzioni spagnole da posizioni di radicale chiusura al dialogo. Si dimentica che oltre due milioni di cittadini catalani chiedono da anni, in maniera civile e pacifica, di potersi esprimere liberamente e democraticamente sull’assetto della relazione tra la Spagna e la Catalogna.

Solo da una posizione di intransigente nazionalismo si può continuare a ritenere la questione dell’indipendenza catalana un tema su cui non può neanche essere aperta una discussione democratica; solo da una posizione illiberale si può ritenere preferibile a quella prospettiva la compressione di fondamentali diritti civili e politici.

Il silenzio dell’Europa, che liquida la vicenda come affare interno alla Spagna, è deprecabile e pericoloso. Si tratta di un segno di debolezza delle istituzioni europee, non di forza, e contribuisce alla radicalizzazione del conflitto anziché alla sua risoluzione. Se la UE accetta la criminalizzazione della protesta pacifica e della disobbedienza civile in un Paese membro della rilevanza della Spagna, ad essere minacciati sono i diritti democratici non solo dei catalani, ma degli spagnoli e degli europei tutti. E quel silenzio diviene imbarazzante allorquando il Parlamento europeo vieta ai politici catalani rifugiati all’estero di partecipare ad una conferenza organizzata nei suoi locali mentre consente, quasi contestualmente, un dibattito anti-catalanista promosso dal partito spagnolo di estrema destra Vox, dichiaratamente e programmaticamente omofobo, maschilista, xenofobo.

Preoccupa anche la scarsa attenzione di parte della stampa, dell’opinione e degli intellettuali del nostro Paese. Nello scenario descritto, crediamo invece siano necessari l’impegno e il controllo vigile di tutti coloro che hanno a cuore la protezione dei diritti, dei valori democratici e dei principi sanciti dagli stessi Trattati UE.

Chiediamo, come cittadini europei, la scarcerazione dei prigionieri catalani, il ritorno ad una situazione di normalità democratica e l’apertura di un dialogo politico sulla questione, unica strada che possa condurre ad una risoluzione della stessa coerente con i valori della democrazia.

Il destino della Catalogna è anche il nostro destino, e il destino dell’Europa intera.

 

PRIMI FIRMATARI
 

Maurizio Acerbo, segretario nazionale PRC-Sinistra Europea, Roma

Luigi Agostini, saggista, Roma

Matteo Angioli, Partito Radicale, Roma

Vando Borghi, Università di Bologna

Bojan Brezigar, giornalista, Trieste

Luca Cassiani, Consigliere PD Regione Piemonte, Torino

Luciano Caveri, giornalista e politico, Aosta

Lluís Cabasés, giornalista, Alba

Massimo Cacciari, filosofo, Venezia

Duccio Campagnoli, ex Assessore Emilia-Romagna, Bologna

Elisa Castellano, Fondazione Di Vittorio, Roma

Pietro Cataldi, Rettore dell’Università per stranieri di Siena

Nancy de Benedetto, Presidente Associazione italiana di studi catalani, Università di Bari

Luigi de Magistris, sindaco di Napoli

Piero Di Siena, giornalista, Roma

Fausto Durante, Resp. politiche internazionali ed europee Cgil, Roma

Paolo Ferrero, vice presidente del Partito della Sinistra Europea, Torino

Gennaro Ferraiuolo, Università di Napoli Federico II

Luigi Foffani, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Eleonora Forenza, Parlamentare europea GUE/Ngl, Rifondazione comunista, Bari

Laura Harth, Rappresentante alle Nazioni Unite del Partito Radicale, Roma

Rafael Hidalgo, insegnante, Ràdio Catalunya Itàlia, Roma

Andrea Maestri, Avvocato per i diritti umani, Ravenna

Fabio Marcelli, ISGI CNR, Associazione giuristi democratici, Roma

Maria Grazia Meriggi, Università di Bergamo

Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna

Cesare Minghini, sindacalista CGIL, Bologna

Tomaso Montanari, Università di Siena, Firenze

Simone Oggionni, Responsabile Forum Europa MDP-Articolo 1, Roma

Fiorella Prodi, segreteria regionale Cgil Emilia-Romagna, Modena

Roberto Rampi, senatore PD, Vimercate (MB)

Patrizio Rigobon, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Simonetta Rubinato, avvocato, ex senatrice e deputata, Treviso

Emilio Santoro, Università di Firenze, Centro di documentazione “L’altro diritto”

Rossella Selmini, Università del Minnesota, Minneapolis-Bologna

Barbara Spinelli, giornalista e Parlamentare europea GUE/Ngl, Roma

Massimo Torelli, coordinatore nazionale di Altra Europa Con Tsipras, Firenze

Gianni Vernetti, ex senatore e sottosegretario agli Affari esteri, Torino

Walter Vitali, Direttore esecutivo Urban@it – Centro nazionale studi politiche urbane, Bologna
 

SOTTOSCRIVONO:

Cristina Accardi, studentessa, Salemi (TP)

Carla Acocella, Università Suor Orsola Benincasa di Napoli

Ivana Aiello, avvocato, Avellino

Rosalba Altopiedi, Università del Piemonte Orientale

Anna Amat, CNR Perugia

Umberto Amato, IMM CNR Napoli

Luciana Ambrosino, copywriter, Napoli

Giso Amendola, Università di Salerno

Virginia Amorosi, avvocato, Lecce.

Daniele Amoroso, Università di Cagliari

Giorgio Andreoli, psicologo, Milano

Simona Anichini, traduttrice, Firenze

Sara Antoniazzi, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Francesco Ardolino, Universitat de Barcelona

Gennaro Avallone, Università di Salerno

Edoardo Balletta, Università di Bologna.

Danilo Barbi, sindacalista Cgil, Bologna

Giuliano Barbolini, ex senatore PD, Modena

Albert Barreda, pittore, Savona

Ursula Bedogni, traduttrice, Barcelona

Marzia Bertazzoni, impiegata, Parma

Gabriele Bettelli, responsabile MDP, Modena

Imma Boixadós, agente immobiliare, Bra (CN)

Mirka Bonomi, pensionata, Ostia (Roma)

Enric Bou, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia

Mario Bravi, presidente IRES Umbria, Terni

Stefania Buosi Moncunill, insegnante, Trieste

Rosa Maria Caballé, dipendente pubblico, Bologna

Marco Calaresu, Università di Sassari

Domenico Caminiti, ingegnere, Torino

Stefano Campus, funzionario amministrativo, Presidente Òmnium Cultural de L'Alguer

Fulvio Capitanio, economista, Aiguafreda (Barcellona)

Flora Cappelluti, giornalista, Milano

Lìdia Carol, Università di Verona

Maria Carreras Goicochea, Università di Catania

Imma Caruso, Napoli, ISSM-CNR

Sergio Caserta, attivista e blogger, Bologna

Giovanni Castagno, insegnante, Roma

Giovanni C. Cattini, Università di Barcellona

Ivan Cecchini, dirigente pubblico, Bellaria-Igea Marina

Giulio Ceci, libero professionista, Roma

Giovanni Cherubini, ingegnere, Gilching (Germania)

Federico Chicchi, Università di Bologna

Claudia Ciavatta, dipendente pubblico, Roma

Adriano Cirulli, Università La Sapienza di Roma

Elena Coccia, Napoli, consigliere comunale Napoli, Sinistra in comune

Maria Teresa Colarossi, insegnante, Tivoli (Roma)

Gemma Teresa Colesanti, ISEM CNR Napoli

Maria Cristina Coliva, pensionata, Bologna

Mauro Colombarini, sindacalista Spi-CGIL, Bologna

Anna Maria Compagna, Università di Napoli Federico II

Michele Conia, Sindaco di Cinquefrondi (RC)

Roberto Cornelli, Università di Milano Bicocca

Giacomo Comincini, studente, Pavia

Enrico Curti, imprenditore, Riomaggiore (SP)

Salvatore D'Acunto, Seconda Università di Napoli.

Ettore D’Agostino, insegnante, Torino

Francesco D’Agresta, coordinatore provinciale MDP Pescara

Patrizia D'Antonio, insegnante, Roma

Elisa D’Ugo, studentessa, Roma

Pasquale D'Ugo, agente di commercio, Roma

Gaspare Dalia, Università di Salerno

Gaetano






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