Foreign minister to 'encourage' international observers at jailed leaders’ trial
Alfred Bosch chairs first meeting with Catalan government delegates abroad after talking to MEPs in Brussels
The new Catalan foreign minister, Alfred Bosch, will "encourage" the presence of international observers at the upcoming trial of some 20 Catalan leaders over the October 2017 referendum and declaration of independence –nine of them are in pre-trial jail.
In Brussels, during his first official trip abroad, Bosch said that "the truth must be known." He also claimed that offering observers the possibility to have "direct knowledge" of what is going on in the courtroom will be "good."
Some MEPs announced earlier this month that they would request to act as international observers at the trial, including the French trade union leader, José Bové. They made the announcement during a visit to one of the prisons where some of the leaders are incarcerated.
"The truth [about the judicial case against pro-independence leaders] must be known"
Alfred Bosch · Catalan foreign minister
Several MPs in the Danish Parliament also visited the jailed politicians and activists a few days later, and they also said they would look into joining an observation mission.
Bosch made his remarks on Wednesday in the Belgian capital, after meeting the Catalan government foreign delegates for the first time.
On Tuesday, the new foreign minister also met with some MEPs of the EU-Catalonia dialogue platform, as well as the former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, who lives in Waterloo, near Brussels.
- The Catalan foreign minister, Alfred Bosch, in a meeting with delegates abroad in Brussels on November 28, 2018 (by Blanca Blay)
