THE daughter of one of Catalonia’s political prisoners has urged the European Union to stop one of its member states “acting with impunity” before what is happening in Spain spread across the bloc.

Anna Forn, daughter of ousted minister Joaquim, was speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg with other relatives of incarcerated pro-indy politicians; family of young men charged with terrorism after a bar brawl in Alsasua; and a support group for convicted rapper Valtonyc, who has fled Spain to avoid jail.

She told MEPs: “Today I have had five minutes to talk with you, my father’s calls are also five minutes from prison.

“Members of a government, the president of the parliament and two activists are in preventive jail for allowing the most fundamental rights. They accuse them of crimes that require violence.

“But the only violence exerted was that of police officers.

“Today, we are the ones defending freedom and democracy, but tomorrow it could be others, and this should not only scare all Spanish citizens, but also those in Europe.”

Forn was jailed in November after being sacked by Mariano Rajoy’s Spanish government following the Catalan declaration of independence. Nine politicians are imprisoned in Madrid awaiting trial, while seven others fled the country for other parts of Europe.

Diana Riba, wife of deposed foreign minister and former MEP Raul Romeva, said: “I married a pacifist and now he is in jail accused of rebellion – a crime that only applies in cases where there has been violence, which was not the case.”

Her voice breaking with emotion, Riba added: “It’s hard for me to be here today, it’s always been. I see known faces, people who know him and appreciate it.

“He always says that we have not been able to speak and talk with Spain, and those who have put him in jail have stopped making politics. I ask the European Parliament to have the strength and help us to report it.”

Andreu Van den Eynde, the prisoners’ lawyer, said that in Spain, the interpretation of the law had changed and crimes such as rebellion no longer needed violence. He said that to plead innocence was taken as an indication of guilt: “Defending yourself makes you guilty. To manifest yourself innocent is an indication of criminality, it will take you to prison. This happened to the counsellor Romeva.”

Mukay Embarak, from the support group for rapper Valtonyc, told MEPs that singing rap was not terrorism, and that the day the singer was sentenced would be remembered.

“We reported that May 24, 2018 was marked because it is the day that Spanish injustice, and the National Court, inherited from the Franco regime, sentenced a young man for the mere fact of singing,” said Embarak.

“We come to denounce the social injustices, corruption and fascism that we suffer in Spain. Singing rap is not terrorism.”

Jordi Sole, MEP from the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) demanded the immediate release of the political prisoners, adding that their detention was “a clear abuse of the figure of the preventive prison”.