The Spanish judiciary prevents the Catalan pro-independence jailed leaders from taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

This is what one of the lawyers in charge of their case said in a press conference on Saturday morning while reading a statement by incarcerated Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Turull to justify their hunger strike started also on Saturday.

The officials said the strike is "against no one," and its main aim is to "raise awareness" of their situations.

Yet they also emphasize that the Spanish Constitutional court is blocking "in an unjustified way" the eight appeals filed by the prosecuted officials which are still waiting for a final decision by the judges.

Why they claim Spain 'blocks' case reaching European courts

Sànchez and Turull claim that the Spanish Constitutional Court "prevents" them from taking their cases to the international justice.