Association for relatives of Catalan officials in Brussels

A group representing the family members of pro-independence politicians in jail, exiled abroad or under investigation over the referendum on independence is in Brussels to denounce the political situation in Catalonia. The Associació Catalana pels Drets Civils (Catalan Association for Civil Rights) includes Laura Masvidal, the wife of imprisoned former Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn, who on Monday admitted to feeling “impotent” in Spain: “Europe has to be and right now is our only hope,” she said.

Madvidal says the group has gone to “the heart of Europe” to focus attention on what is going on in Catalonia: “That we have people who have to leave the country to be able to feel free is proof of the democratic regression taking place in Spain,” she said. Meanwhile, Meritxell Lluís, the wife of imprisoned minister Josep Rull, pointed out that witnessing the “flagrant infringement” of their relatives’ human rights is what brought the family members together, to “give a voice to the victims of Spain’s reprisals.”

Various relatives of imprisoned or exiled Catalan officials on Monday met Toni Comín, Meritxell Serret and Lluís Puig, the ministers that went to Brussels with president Carles Puigdemont following parliament's declaration of independence. All three ministers have European arrest warrants issued by a Spanish court hanging over them, while Puigdemont was unable to attend after being detained by German police on Sunday when he was making his way back to Belgium from Finland.

The association had a visit to the European Parliament planned for Monday afternoon, where they were due to meet Euro-MPs from the EU-Catalonia dialogue platform, after which they planned to give a news conference in one of the Euro chamber’s press rooms.