THE presidents of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium Cultural (OC), the two biggest grassroots organisations fighting for independence and self-determination for Catalonia, were sent to prison on Monday evening accused of sedition because they organised demonstrations against the detention of Catalan government officials.

The two prisoners have been responsible for some of the most impressive rallies and demonstrations seen in Europe, which have always been peaceful. As Catalans and as ANC Scotland, the Scottish branch of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), we think that their imprisonment for political reasons is absolutely unacceptable and we demand their immediate release.

This is no longer only about Yes or No to independence. This is about millions of citizens peacefully asking for self-determination and a state rejecting any idea of dialogue because of its Francoist roots. This is about democracy and freedom of speech, and the right of every citizen to defend their ideas peacefully without being repressed for them.

The Catalan government has repeatedly tried to open a dialogue, and many offers of mediation have been made, but the Spanish government remains hostile and insists there is nothing to discuss. After violence by the state against peaceful citizens during the referendum, and now the taking of political prisoners, it is time for the friends of Spain across Europe to speak out and call her back before she goes further down the route of repression.
Clàudia Alloza, Joan Baró, Marc Colell, Alba Crespi, Marc Duch, Laia Gazpio, Adriana Libori, Erola Pairó, Gerard Pelegrí, Laura Puig, Oriol Roig, Xavier Sala, Guillem Carles, Mireia Vergés, Laia Vilà, Xavier Rubio, Maria Yubero
ANC Scotland, the Scottish branch of the Catalan National Assembly

A LETTER from Catalonia to Europe: You do not know me but I am one of the thousands of Catalans who on October 1 went to vote in our independence referendum amid repeated scenes of police violence.

I imagine everyone will have seen some photos, some video. I imagine it will not have left you indifferent.

Catalonia’s demand for European intervention to help resolve the conflict has been repeated and has always been denied. On October 1, this demand was repeated, this time more urgently and the same response given: it is not our business.

Rajoy, the Prime Minister of Spain, also states that Europe will not be involved in this matter. I imagine he speaks the same language as the European politicians. I do not speak that language. The European politicians must think that Europe is them and based on this belief they should not be accountable to anyone.

I think Europe is something else. I think Europe is you. That Europe is the millions of people who inhabit it from the coasts of the Mediterranean to those of the North Sea, from the Atlantic to the borders of the east. And from that belief I want to ask you something: that you make this your conflict. Because your politicians of Europe, our politicians, will no longer be able to say that it is none of their business. If the demand for a solution comes from their own country, they will see that now it is their business. That the fact a peaceful demand for the right to vote was answered with violence is a matter that is his or her business. That the aggression against European citizens for casting a vote is his or her business. I ask you to help me in searching for a solution to this conflict and, peacefully, if you see fit, demand this solution from your politicians. Thank you.
M Miralpeix
Barcelona

WHILE agreeing with Sandy Allan (Letters, October 18) in questioning whether the UK Supreme Court’s powers contravene the Act of Union, we should not overlook the service it did to the independence movement in its judgment in the Brexit court case.

The judges stripped away any complacency Scots may have felt in believing that the Sewel Convention and its incorporation in the Scotland Act offered security to the devolution settlement, and also exposed the fact that this lack of security was deliberate.

We should be grateful to the judges for reinforcing our message that the only true security for Scotland lies in independence.
Dot Jessiman
Turriff