Catalan Political Prisoners Call on People to Vote for Amnesty and the Republic in Today’s Catalan Elections

The nine Catalan pro-independence political prisoners Oriol Junqueras, Carme Forcadell, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa, Josep Rull, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart call on the Catalans to vote en masse for “amnesty and the republic” in today’s Catalan elections.

They emphasize the importance of voting in order to challenge the Spanish state and to demand an end to repression “through amnesty and the return of exiles” to “face the democratic resolution” of the conflict between Catalonia and Spain.

The political prisoners also call for a future government that defends an inclusive project, in the service of social reconstruction and national liberation, emphasizing that to move towards this common goal they must build a shared strategy. “The repressive state powers always seeks to divide those who fight it. That is why it is more important than ever to maintain unity in diversity,” they state.

Some of the prisoners remind us that the elections in the current Covid-19 scenario force “citizens to choose between the protection of the right to life and the right to political participation,” which shows the “contempt” of the state for both institutions and Catalan society.

Jailed Catalan Leader Jordi Cuixart Calls on the Catalans to Vote en Masse in the February 14th Elections

The President of the Catalan cultural and civil organization Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, calls on the Catalans to “fill the ballot boxes” with pro-independence votes in the February 14^th elections in response to the ongoing Spanish “state operation” against the pro-independence movement.

Jordi Cuixart affirms that the political prisoners are not “the visualization of any defeat but a further step towards victory” and also recalls that exiles continue fighting “to defend the ideals” that forced them to leave Catalonia.

“We will continue to defend the right to self-determination and the right to live in a Catalan republic of free citizens,” Cuixart says, adding that “enough is enough” in reference to political courts. “The solution to the repression will come neither from pardons nor from reforms of the penal code. We demand amnesty: there are more than 2,850 being repressed. We will not abandon anyone,” Cuixart insists.

Cuixart also calls for “a strong government” to defend amnesty and the right to self-determination, and assures that “we will do it again [exercise the right to self-determination like in 2017]. We will always obey our conscience in the face of unjust laws, in defense of the violated rights and freedoms of people,” he says, calling for them to be “united, standing and on the street.”