THE Catalan independence poll, which Spain deemed illegal, has had far-reaching consequences raising questions over democracy, justice and how far Spain has – or not – travelled from the days of dictator Francisco Franco. Scotland’s 2014 referendum is something the Catalan independence lobby aspires to, but as Roger Torrent told Greg Russell, that does not appear to be the Spanish way.
Roger Torrent: We understand that the way things were done in the case of Scotland would be the best to resolve the conflict.
Unfortunately, Spain is afraid of the ballot boxes, they do not want a democratic solution to the conflict.
They prefer to act through repression, jailing and forcing our political and social leaders to exile.
That’s the reason why we are not naive. We know that nobody will give us the referendum. And we understand that we must activate all the peaceful and democratic mechanisms of pressure within our reach to make the referendum irreversible.
And that means social mobilisation, international diplomacy and political negotiation.
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Greg Russell: How can you take the Catalan independence case forward given that Europe, especially, appears to have been struck dumb over alleged injustices, police violence and so on?
RT: We will not give up. The European Union is a states’ club, they all defend each other. This is why not many public statements were issued regarding police violence on October 1 or against the fact that in Spain there are political prisoners and others are forced to go into exile.
But despite everything, we have to go on, we have to be more and more determined to generate the conditions to make an effective and binding referendum possible.
I have no doubt that, despite the difficulties, we will achieve the Catalan Republic if this is what the majority of Catalans want.
GR: Do you think that attitudes in Europe might be changing in your favour – have we seen for the first time several MEPs raise the question in Catalan in the European Parliament?
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RT: More and more voices, beyond whether they support or not the independence, understand that the violation of fundamental rights in Spain is far beyond reason. Organisations such as the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, or the European Commission, have raised their voices to report these facts, and we have to work to further internationalise the situation in Catalonia.
GR: International bodies like Amnesty International have criticised the sentences – do you think there is any further leverage they can use to help your case?
RT: On December 19, the Court of Justice of the European Union must make a decision on the immunity of Oriol Junqueras, president of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), who has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after being elected MEP in the latest elections.
This decision can lead to major changes, and it should be taken into account that the EU advocate general believes that Junqueras should be recognised as an MEP.
Therefore, despite all difficulties, we must look for justice in Europe, since we cannot have it in Spain.
The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union is important for Oriol Junqueras (below), Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comin. All of them have been elected by the Catalan citizens, so they have the right to act as MEPs with all their rights guaranteed.
GR: On a more practical note, it would appear that Mr Sanchez is unlikely to become prime minister without support from Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) MPs; he has rebuffed on several occasions calls for dialogue – could he find himself forced into yet another election?
RT: It depends on him.
If he wants ERC’s support, he must change his attitude and be willing to negotiate in order to resolve the conflict between Catalonia and Spain by political means.
If he is not prepared to negotiate with a clear calendar, and with no limitations, ERC will not facilitate the investiture of Pedro Sanchez.
We have a clear proposal: amnesty and referendum to resolve the situation.
If Pedro Sanchez has another proposal, he has to put it on the table. The problem is that he does not manage to offer any solution, and this may be for two reasons: either he has none, and that would be a sign of enormous incompetence, or he is afraid to expose it because he does not feel to be able to win at the polls, which would be a sign of political irresponsibility.
GR: Scotland’s politicians are restricted in the support they can offer you as foreign policy is reserved to Westminster and only the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Catalonia has been politically active over it. Is there anything else you would like to see Scottish politicians do to support you?
RT: We have the greatest respect for the Scottish politicians, we feel their warmth, and we understand that, beyond international solidarity, each one must follow their own way.
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Any sign of support is very important for us, especially for our fellows in prison and in exile.
And I would like to emphasise the absolute injustice of the imprisonment of Carme Forcadell, who was sentenced to prison for 11-and-a-half years for allowing the parliament of Catalonia to debate on all subjects.
This is unjustifiable from any point of view and it deserves to be denounced by all democratic parliaments.
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