civil society

Demonstration to take place on Thursday in front of Spanish government delegation in Barcelona

The Catalan Civil Society (SCC) frontally rejects the idea that there are political prisoners in Spain, and is strongly opposed to independence

Topics covered by institutions include Catalan language, law, pacifist movement, mountaineering and scouting, among others

‘Europe, make a move’ aims to send letters to heads of Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Finland asking for help regarding leaders in jail or abroad

Together for Catalonia candidate requests permission from Supreme Court to take part in run-up to election

The jailed pro-independence grass-root leader joins ‘Together for Catalonia’ and resigns as Catalan National Assembly president 

Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart are behind bars while under investigation for sedition 

The demonstrators support Spanish unity and include representation from various political parties

Representatives from several pro-independence civil society organisations joined Parliament President, Carme Forcadell, on her way to the Court. Forcadell testified this Friday for having allowed a democratic debate on Catalonia’s independence in the Catalan Chamber on the 27th of July. Pro-independence grass-roots organisations the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM) highlighted the wide support for the representative. Indeed, the President of AMI, Neus Lloveras, said that the backing for Forcadell was a “demonstration of the unity and strength” of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. The president of the ANC, Jordi Sànchez, deemed Forcadell’s prosecution “absolutely unjustified” and the president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, said Catalonia is facing “a critical hour” and has to show “unity and firmness”.

The Catalan government has decided to recognise Muriel Casals, one of the Catalan pro-independence movement’s central figures, who died last Sunday, with the Gold Medal of the Generalitat. The award is the highest prize given to those individuals or institutions whose work in the political, social, economic, cultural or scientific field has been outstanding. President of the civil society association Òmnium Cultural between 2010 and 2015, Casals was responsible for the massive pro-independence rallies which have taken to the streets of Barcelona for the past six years. In 2015, she joined pro-independence cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sí' and ran for the 27-S Catalan Elections. Recently, she was named president of the Study Committee for the Constitutive Process, responsible for setting the basis for Catalonia's roadmap towards independence.

Pro-independence cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sí' MP Muriel Casals died this Sunday at the age of 70. Former president of civil society association Òmnium Cultural, Muriel was one of the greatest exponents of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. Recently, she was named president of the Study Committee for the Constitutive Process, responsible for setting the basis for Catalonia's roadmap towards independence. Together with Carme Forcadell, Parliament's President and former president of pro-independence grassroots organisation Catalan National Assembly, Muriel was responsible for the massive pro-independence rallies which have taken to the streets of Barcelona for the past six years. Casals had been in hospital since the 30^th of January, after being hit by a bicycle in Barcelona. She failed to recover from a traumatic brain injury.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), the civil society association responsible for the last years’ massive pro-independence rallies in Catalonia, urged cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sí' and radical left CUP to reach an agreement by the 27^th of November. As stated in the ANC's document entitled "Let's do the Catalan Republic" such an agreement has to be "without exclusions, with the conviction that nobody is extra in this process of national transition, on the contrary; we must add new adhesions". The ANC's president, Jordi Sànchez, called for a "strong government" and urged the pro-independence forces to "show responsibility". Sànchez admitted that none of the agents involved aim to call new elections but reach a "good and quick" agreement, otherwise the "risk of erosion of the 72 pro-independence MPs" will be higher.

The main pro-independences civil associations, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural and the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) handed over 1.5 million signatures supporting Catalonia’s independence to the Council of Europe. The signatures were gathered during the non-binding referendum that took place on the 9^th of November 2014. The pro-independence civil associations’representatives travelled to Strasbourg to denounce “the lack of democratic will of the Spanish State”and they reported on Catalonia’s situation to a delegation of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly. The delivery of these signatures is the first international diplomatic action promoted by the ANC, Òmnium and the AMI. “The Catalan case is present in the European agenda”stated the ANC’s president, Jordi Sànchez, and added that “giving first-hand information from civil society is very important”.