Barcelona: Hundreds of thousands protest against jailing of Catalan independence leaders
By
Paul Mitchell
18 April 2018
Hundreds of thousands protested in Barcelona on Sunday against the imprisonment of Catalan nationalist leaders and for those who fled abroad following the failed independence bid last October to be allowed to return.
Since October, Catalonia has remained under the control of Madrid after Popular Party (PP) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution and sought to “decapitate” the secessionist movement through arrests with the support of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the Citizens party.
The Catalan parliament has been unable to appoint a new premier or administration four months after Rajoy imposed elections on December 21, when the separatist parties were re-elected with a small majority. If a new leader is not elected by May 22, new regional elections must be held.
Around 315,000 people took part in the demonstration, according to the Catalan municipal police. The organisers—Space for Democracy and Co-existence (Espai Democràcia i Convivència), which comprises social and cultural groups; the Catalan branches of Spain’s two largest trade unions, the CCOO and the UGT; nationalist political parties; and the pseudo-left Podemos-led coalition Catalonia in Common—all estimated the turnout at 750,000.
The demonstration was held under the slogan, “We demand the freedom of all politicians and imprisoned leaders, as well as the return of the exiles”—a reference to the nine jailed and seven exiled secessionist leaders who organised the failed independence bid. They are accused of sedition, rebellion and embezzlement and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison.
Many of the…