Catalan government sends a report to all chancelleries to inform on October 1 referendum

The report denounces how “the Spanish government has violated fundamental rights”

Foreign Affairs minister at the presentation of Catalan international cooperation 2017 (by Helle Kettner)
Foreign Affairs minister at the presentation of Catalan international cooperation 2017 (by Helle Kettner) / Helle Kettner

ACN | Barcelona

September 30, 2017 03:40 PM

The Catalan Ministry for Foreign Affairs sent a letter to all chancelleries to inform that on October 1 “Catalan people will vote in a referendum to choose the political future of Catalonia”. The report confirms that “the Catalan government continues to work to organise the vote in order to ensure that citizens can freely exercise their right”.

Despite “the Spanish government efforts to stop the referendum”, Catalan citizens can check which of the 2,315 polling stations has been assigned to them,” the Catalan governemt report states. “Over 100 international political visitors from more than 30 countries have been accredited by the Electoral Commission of Catalonia” and “on September 26, notifications begun to reach those citizens selected to serve in the 6,249 voting points”, it goes on to say.

It also highlights Spain’s actions to stop the referendum. “On September 22, a Spanish prosecutor opened an investigation into the protests that followed the police raids of September 20”, “on September 23, the prosecutor attempted to bypass the Catalan government’s policing powers and place the Catalan police under direct control of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Madrid,” says the report. It also mentions how “on Monday September 25, 140 websites were shut down.

Finally, the Catalan government declared that the "law and judicial system aim is not to abolish or limit rights and freedoms but to protect them. "That’s why on Sunday the Catalans will decide their political future by voting," the report concludes.