jordi cuixart

The Barcelona Bar Association says crime of inciting riotous uprising is invented

European politicians spoke out against Spain’s disregard for “democracy and human rights”

At noon on Tuesday employees stopped working across Catalonia in response to the arrests of pro-independence organization leaders

Irvine Welsh criticizes EU’s silence on the jailing of grassroots civil society leaders

Cuixart and Sànchez have been sent to prison without bail on sedition charges after September 20 and 21 demonstrations

Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart are being held without bail while they are under investigation for sedition

Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart will already sleep in jail tonight

Pro-independence civil society organisation leaders refused to testify and no precautionary measures have been taken against defendants 

The crime of sedition carries jail sentences of between 4 and 15 years 

The Catalan Government paid tribute last Sunday to the 309 victims and their families that have been recognised as victims of Franco’s regime since 2009, the last time such a ceremony took place. During the event, which took place in Universitat de Barcelona’s auditorium, the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva compared “with due respect to the obvious differences” the justice of Franco’s dictatorship and that of the current Spanish State. “Today there are still echoes of the Francoist melody” he said, referring to the “interference of the Spanish Government in the judicial system”. Moreover, Romeva stated that despite having overcome the Francoist dictatorship, which reigned in Spain from 1939 until the dictator’s death in 1975, it still has to be proved whether Spain’s democracy “is worthy of the name”.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, the two main civil organisations behind the massive pro-independence demonstrations held since 2012 on Catalonia’s National Day, have presented their project for the upcoming mobilisation on the 11^th of September. The new campaign, called ‘A punt’ (‘We are ready’), aims to mobilise Catalans in five different cities all over the territory: Barcelona; Salt, in Girona; Berga, in Central Catalonia; Lleida; and Tarragona. The presidents of both organisations invited all those who support holding a referendum on independence to join the demonstration and explained that the motto ‘A punt’ symbolises two things; that Catalonia “is ready to achieve the republic” and that the citizens have already reached “the final stage” of the pro-independence process. 

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.