Marx21
This text was written on the afternoon of October 15. The situation is changing rapidly but, as the article explains, the basic arguments haven’t changed much in the last two years.
Castellano · Català · English
The long jail sentences declared on 14 October against pro independence political prisoners are a cause of outrage and rage for any democratic person. Even though expected, the news was a shock. Even the liberal British newspaper, The Guardian, declared that “The draconian jailings shame Spain.”
Let’s remember the sentences: Oriol Junqueras, 13 years; Raül Romeva, 12 years old; Jordi Turull, 12 years; Dolors Bassa, 12 years; Carme Forcadell, 11 years and 6 months; Joaquim Forn, 10 years and 6 months; Josep Rull, 10 years and 6 months; Jordi Sánchez, 9 years; and Jordi Cuixart, 9 years.
All of them are scandalous. Here we will only highlight two aspects.
Carme Forcadell has been sentenced for sedition for having, as Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, acted on the basis of the wishes of the country’s population, democratically expressed in elections. The Supreme Court jailed her for allowing a parliamentary debate on a referendum. This is a terrible precedent. Seguir leyendo Catalonia: The prison sentences are an attack on democracy