Catalan National Assembly (ANC) Urges JxCat and ERC to Agree on a Unitary Blocking Strategy in Congress

Elisenda Paluzie, president of the ANC, has called on JxCat and ERC to agree on a unitary strategy in the April 28th Spanish elections and hopefully form a blocking minority in defense of the self-determination of Catalonia

In an interview with Europa Press, Paluzie explains that the blocking minority should condition their votes to the recognition of Catalonia as a “political subject” and “the exercise of the right to self-determination.”

“If you do not put these MPs at the service of a unitary strategy to achieve independence when you have a blocking minority; then, what is the sense of your participation in these institutions [Spanish Congress and Senate]?” asked Paluzie.

The ANC warns that if the independentist MPs do not promote this blocking strategy that the entity demands, the only thing that can be understood from this is a “renounce the goal of the Catalan Republic.” Paluzie recalled that JxCat and ERC did have the opportunity to reach agreements when power was distributed, as the agreement they have to govern Catalonia through the coalition executive that leads President Quim Torra. “What we know a little bit about it is that it’s easier to agree on things when you form a government.” So, if they agree to govern together, they should also agree on having a joint strategy in Congress. It is basic and obvious,” she summarizes. 

 Unilateralism

Paluzie argues that unilateral independence “has been done by most of the world’s independent countries,” and assures that this cannot be linked to a rebellion, nor to an insurrection or violence. She also regrets that independentism has no more self-confidence: “The State sometimes believes more in our possibilities than ourselves.”

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Police Raid Catalan Schools to Remove Yellow Coloured Items

On Friday, agents of the Mossos (Catalan police) entered several Catalan schools and ministries across the country to remove yellow ribbons and anything else coloured yellow, including drawings of vegetables and tractors issued by the Agriculture Ministry. On Thursday Spain’s Electoral Board had ordered the Catalan police to remove “yellow symbols” from public facilities, arguing that these are political and partisan symbols. This decision and the police operation, which attempts against the freedom of opinion and expression of the Catalans, caused widespread indignation across the country; they believe the Spanish State is using any and all means at its disposal (whether legitimate or illegitimate; legal or illegal) to impose direct rule over Catalonia with the aim of stamping out independentism.

The order of the Spanish Electoral Board urged the agents to wait for half an hour so that the people in charge of the buildings could remove the items themselves, but if not, the agents were ordered to do so. Catalan Minister for Home Affairs Buch announced on Friday evening that the Mossos had complied with the order to remove all such “symbols” from government buildings and schools.

Tweet: Mossos at Sagrada Familia school in Caldes d’Estrac are currently erasing the yellow ribbons that the children had painted for a mural for peace.

 

Tweet: A couple of Mossos have come to the school to check there are no yellow ribbons. They commented there is too much yellow in this corridor. 

 

Tweet: The head of Planas i Casals school explains that the Mossos have searched cupboards and drawers of teachers. Are yellow ribbons so dangerous? Who ordered this search?

 

Tweet: Mossos have also entered the Els Tres Turons school in Arenys de Mar, removed posters from notice boards and inside the departments. 

 

Tweet: The Mossos have just come to the rural school of Perafita (Lluçanes) with orders to take down any symbols with regards to the elections. They’ve removed the violet ribbons were hung up for the Women’s Day on March 8. It’s a disgrace!

 

Tweet: We received messages informing us that at midday, during class time, some schools were visited by the National Police (case of the INS of Les Borges Blanques) and Mossos [Catalan police] asking for symbols showing solidarity with prisoners and exiles. Do you know if this is happening in more centers? 

Attacks against Catalans in the Aftermath of Saturday’s Historic Demonstration in Madrid

Users of social networks have reported aggressions in Madrid in the aftermath of the historic rally held by pro-independence organizations on Saturday against the trial of the Catalan political prisoners and to defend the right to self-determination.

Tweet: In front of me, they have broken this banner and the Estelada at the head of a colleague, in front of us. It was a group of 5 or 6 fascists.

 

At least two buses returning from Madrid received the impact of a rock, which broke one of the side glasses of the vehicles. One of the rocks would have been thrown from one of the bridges of the Spanish capital, located above the road where the vehicle was circulating, when was leaving the city.Tweet: Two buses – so far – with a broken glass at the exit of Madrid after receiving the impact of a stone. One from Canet and another from Barcelona’s Eixample with people who return from the demonstration.

 

Image: One of the side glasses of a bus broken by stones thrown by fascists.

 

Image: One of the side glasses of a bus broken by stones thrown by fascists.

 

Several people have also reported the placement of spikes below the tires of numerous buses.

Tweet: Spikes have been placed below the tires of the buses.

The Appalling Living Conditions of the Catalan Political Prisoners Limits their Right to Defense in the Ongoing Independence Trial

After nearly a month of the Independence Trial of the Catalan political prisoners, the bias in favor of the accusation shown by the court and the extreme living conditions of the prisoners is worrying the international community and the prisoners’ families, who believe their right to a proper defense has been violated. 

The longest session so far was when Josep Rull, Dolors Bassa, Meritxell Borràs, and Carles Mundó declared before the Spanish Supreme Court. It began at 10am and ended at 9.30pm, a long marathon of a session that seriously affected the prisoners, who ended it exhausted, which could violate their right to a defense.

The prisoners have a strict schedule; they are woken up at 6am by prison officials. On their days of trial, they are directly transferred by Spanish Civil Guard officers to the Spanish Supreme Court – without shower or breakfast time – in a trip that usually takes 45 minutes. Then the Spanish National police take custody of them, and the prisoners are sent to a room where they have to wait for over 30 minutes until the trial session begins. After the day-long trial session, they are sent back to their respective prisons in Madrid.

According to the families of the Catalan political prisoners and their lawyers, the worst part is the return to prison. When they get back their dinner is already cold, and they don’t have the means of warming it. After a quick dinner, they go straight to bed because it is already late and the next day they will have to wake up at six and face another long trial session, which tends to end in the evening.

This exhausting rhythm after nearly a month of trial is severely affecting the political prisoners, who on occasions only get 4 four hours sleep per night. In addition, they don’t have the possibility to prepare their defense with their lawyers after each session because they are directly transferred to prison, have dinner, go to their cells and prepare for the next day, get some sleep, and then face a new trial session.

At weekends however, they do have the possibility of meeting with their lawyers and receiving some visits. On some occasions, their families can also have communication with them at the Supreme Court for 10 minutes at the end of the session. 

Last week Jordi Cuixart’s defense team filed a formal protest before the court to be told in advance the complete calendar of sessions, to be able to prepare for the interrogations. In addition, the defense highlighted that the isolation of the prisoners also limits their freedom of communication with their clients and impedes their ability to prepare for the trial properly.

List of Important Witnesses Independence Trial Upcoming Weeks

This is a list of some of the most important witnesses that will testify in the independence trial in the upcoming weeks:

Politicians

– Roger Torrent (ERC), President of the Catalan Parliament.

– Pere Aragonés (ERC), Catalan vice-president. 

– Jordi Puigneró (JxCat), Catalan digital policy minister. During the referendum, he was junior telecommunications minister. 

– José María Espejo (C’s), second deputy speaker of the Catalan Parliament.

-David Pérez (PSC), member of the Parliament’s executive board.  

– Josep Maria Jové (ERC), former second-in-command at the economy ministry, considered the organizer of the referendum.

– Xavier Trías (PDeCAT), Former Mayor of Barcelona.

– David Fernández (CUP), former Catalan MP.

– Luís Llach, former Catalan MP.

– Neus Lloveras, former president of the Associació de Municipis per la Independència (Association of Municipalities for Independence).

– Antonio Bayona, former head Parliament lawyer.

– Carles Viver, former Constitutional Court magistrate, considered to be the “legal architect” of the independence process.

Police

– Diego Pérez de los Cobos, a colonel in Spain’s Civil Guard. He was the coordinator of the large Spanish security operation mounted in response to the possibility of the 1st October 2017 referendum.

– Josep Lluis Trapero, former chief of Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra police.

– Pere Soler, former director of the Mossos. Accused of rebellion alongside Trapero. 

– Albert Battle, former director of the Mossos. He resigned two months before the referendum and was replaced by Soler.

– Teresa Laplana, Mossos superintendent. She is accused of sedition in the National Audience case. 

– Ferrán López, Mossos police commissioner. He substituted Trapero when he was removed from his post.

– Sebastián Trapote, chief of the Spanish National Police in Catalonia.

Media, associations, and citizens

– Joan Vallvé, vice-president of Òmnium Cultural, the Catalan cultural association.

– Núria Llorach, vice-president and acting president of the Catalan public broadcasting corporation, CCMA.

– Javier Pacheco and Camil Ros, secretaries in Catalunya of two of the major trade unions, CCOO and UGT respectively.

– José María Álvarez, secretary general of the UGT trade union.

– Around a hundred voters who took part in the referendum.

International

– MEP Ana Gomes

– MEP Ivo Vagl.

– Manon Masse, member of the Quebec parliament for the social-democratic Québec solidaire, who acted as an international observer for the referendum.

– Felix Von Gründberg, German MP.

– Andrej Hunko, German MP.

– Lars Aslan Rasmussen, Danish MP.

– Helena Catt, member of the International Election Expert Research Team. Also cited was her colleague, former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, who died late last year.

– Paul Sinning, director of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

 

 

International Trial Watch Warns of Irregularities in the Independence Trial

International Trial Watch, an organization which is monitoring the trial against the Catalan political prisoners over the 2017 referendum, warned on Monday that the Spanish Supreme Court hadn’t admitted “crucial” evidence about the Catalan leaders which would clearly undermine the defendant’s rights to a proper legal defense.

In a press release via Twitter, International Trial Watch has explained that the outcome of the past week will be presented by 6 observers: William Mozdzierz, member of the American Bar Association; Dominique Nogueres, president of the French League of Human Rights; Alexandre Faro, advocate and member of the International Federation of Human Rights; Frédéric Ureel, advocate and member of European Democracy Advocates; Fabio Marcelli, lawyer of the European Association Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights; and Javier Pérez Royo, professor of Constitutional Law of the University of Seville.

➡ The accusations do not take into account that the actions of the defendants may be covered by fundamental rights. If so, it would not be possible at the same time that the accused had committed a crime.

The observers have remarked that the accusations “do not have in mind that the acts of the accusers could have violated their fundamental rights.” “If that were the case, it would not be possible at the same time that the accused had committed any crime,” they added.

The platform also warned that it would examine”procedural anomalies” related to the court not suspending the trial to incorporate documentation that the defenders do not dispose of and if the accusation may have “violated procedures.”

International Trial Watch has verified that the Supreme Court has not reserved a room for the observers, which has led “hours of queues” to the portal to access the room. In addition, they have remembered that on the first day of trial, far-right Vox sympathizers “organized the queue and distributed numbers of entry;” days later the police did it.

The observers have estimated that approximately 40 people can enter as public. For this reason, International Trial Watch has reiterated to the court the need to reserve places in the room for observers. 

 

Upcoming Protests against the Ongoing Trial of the Catalan Political Prisoners and Leaders over the 2017 Independence Referendum

February 16: Unitary Mass Demonstration in Barcelona

The first major event will be held in Barcelona on Wednesday, February 16,  four days after the start of the trial. The march will start at 5 pm at Spain Square and will follow the Gran Via to University Square. The organizers expect massive attendance, with numbers reaching historic levels. In order to guarantee a massive attendance, the ANC, Òmnium and other organizations will offer bus trips across Catalonia to anyone who wants to attend the demonstration.

February 21: General Strike

The organizers expect to be able to paralyze the whole country and this could also be the beginning of major permanent protests, which could paralyze the country indefinitely until the Catalan Republic is implemented and the Catalan political prisoners are released. The Catalan trade Union Intersindical -CSC has officially called for this strike, though it has the support of all pro-independence and some federal parties and organizations. According to the law, strikes for political purposes are illegal. For this reason, the Intersindical -CSC maintains that the strike is strictly for reasons related to labor: to protest against the labor reform of 2012, which will have its seventh anniversary on February 10; to claim a minimum salary of 1,200 euros per month; and to recover the social laws of the Parliament of Catalonia suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

March 16: Unitary Demonstration in Madrid

 One month after the unitary demonstration in Barcelona, another will take place in Madrid. So, on March 16, independentists and some federalists will be mobilized in the same city where the former Catalan government is going to be judged over the 2017 independence referendum. The demonstration will start at 6 pm; the route has not yet been announced.

 Around the world

 These are just the main rallies in Spain. The pro-independence organization ANC’s international branches are also planning almost 30 protests in different European countries and even one in the US on February 12th, the day the trial against the Catalan political prisoners and leaders will begin.