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29 de des. 2018

Statement by the four hunger strikers (20 Dec 2018)

Here is an English translation (by M.S.) of the Declaration made by the four Catalan political prisoners on ending their 20-day hunger strike, after achieving their aim: for the Constitutional Court to finally consider the violations of their fundamental rights.
Click here if need be to read the whole post, if need be

28 de des. 2018

"This simply isn't fair" by Jofre Llombart (27/12/2018)

Jofre Llombart has made a scathing editorial comment on RAC1 Radio, "No hi ha dret", in which the lax treatment of confessed and condemned rapists (among them a policeman and a soldier) contrasts starkly with the Spanish courts' harsh violation of fundamental rights with regard to a dozen political and social leaders facing a show trial in January for having organised the self-determination referendum on October 1 2017. English translation by M.S. (I hope the author doesn't mind)
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"No hi ha dret" was Jofre Llombart's editorial comment on 27 DEC 2018. His indignation was mirrored across Catalonia (and perhaps Spain). Original:  
https://www.rac1.cat/programes/el-mon/20181227/453778215464/manada-violacio-preso-altsasu-tumulto-presos-vox.html

It can be listened to here: https://api.audioteca.rac1.cat/embed/b0837369-5e28-449b-b013-7a4bf4e2b6c6

...ooo000...

Here is an English rendering. I hope the author and the radio station don't mind.

This simply isn't fair

José Ángel, Alfonso, Jesús, Ángel and Antonio Manuel spent Christmas, Christmas and Boxing Day with their family. On July 7, 2016, José Angel, Alfonso, Jesús, Ángel and Antonio Manuel bundled a girl into a doorway and violated her. They penetrated her through the mouth, the vagina and the anus. They recorded the rape and they bagged about it. A court considered that this was not a rape, but a sexual abuse, arguing that the girl should have tried to knock all five over. However, the Navarre court sentenced them to nine years in prison. Their lawyers appealed against the sentence, so the sentence was not considered to be final. They raised it to the Navarre High Court and, for this reason, it was determined that José Angel, Alfonso, Jesús, Ángel and Antonio Manuel had the right to stay fee until the sentence was final.

The judge who decreed this parole was aware of the family situation of some of them, such as one who was expecting a child with his partner. What the judge ordered was that, while the Superior Court did not decide, none of them could leave the Spanish territory and had to hand over the passport. Well, a few weeks after that, one of them, Antonio Manuel, tried to make a duplicate passport. And the fact is Antonio Manuel is a civil guard. In spite of his having the rank of authority, the verdict does not consider that there had been an abuse of authority because it was considered that he was off duty. This was not the case with the Altsasu verdict, in which the condemned young people were found guilty of an attack on authority, for the court considered that one of the victims, an off-duty civil guard, is a civil guard right round the clock.

The fact is that, in spite of trying to take advantage of his civil guard status to get a new passport behind the counter, the judge extended his parole, considering there was no risk of his escaping. Antonio Manuel, moreover, is the one kept saved most of the photos and videos of the rape. He is also the one who robbed the raped girl's phone so she could not ask for help. Antonio Manuel will spend the New Year's Eve with whoever he chooses.

Since December 5, the 9 years' prison sentence has been confirmed, but it is not final because they have now appealed against it again and have taken the case to the Supreme Court. And for all this, yet another court has had to meet to decide whethe, in the meantime, they have to go into prison or not. This court will not issue its decision until after the holidays. For the time being, all five are on parole. Only one of them doesn't have a criminal record. The other four do.

We have already talked about Antonio Manuel. Now it's the turn of José Ángel, the alleged leader of the group. He is temporarily released despite being regarded as the one whose idea it wsas to rape her. He had already been sentenced to two years for a robbery with force. Angel, another of them who has spent the Christmas holidays with the family, also has a conviction for theft. In his case, in addition, he has a history of driving under the effects of alcohol and drugs. He took advantage of his parole, after his conviction, to steal some sunglasses. In spite of this, the judge did not consider that, in spite of the criminal recidivism, there was any need for him to enter prison either.

And who's left to talk about: Alfonso Jesús. He has a history of physical aggression, injury and now comes the most outrageous: he is a soldier and before the rape it had a record of public disorder and rioting. Rioting ("avalot")  is the translation into Catalan of a word that on September 20 came into the limelight in Catalonia. The famous "tumultos", which led to the charges of rebellion and sedition. Without these "tumultos" the charges would be even more flimsy. Well, one of the members of La Manada, a member of the Spanish army with a proven record for rioting and public disorder, sentenced to nine years in prison in a verdict issued twice for group rape, will also spend these holidays with his folks.

And, on the other hand, another group is in prison. Oriol, Carme, Jordi, Raül, Jordi, Quim, Dolors, Jordi and Josep have no criminal record for any offence, far less involving force. They have not raped anyone. They haven't been tried. They have not tried to get a duplicate of their passport. In the months they were on parole they did not commit any crimes again or attempt to flee. In the case of Quim the Prosecutor's Office even asked for his release, but Vox, a private prosecution, prevented him from leaving. Some of them were elected to Parliament, one of them, Jordi, even delivered a speech to become the elected of the Generalitat. Oriol, Jordi, Quim and Jordi will spend their second Christmas holiday in prison. Raül, Carme, Dolors, Jordi and Josep are suffering through their first one. There is an expression in Catalan that serves to complain generically of injustices. "No hi ha dret" (Literally, There is no right, or This is outrageous). In this case, it is literal.

18 de des. 2018

A scathing criticism by Jaume Sastre of the Catalan Government

A scathing criticism by Jaume Sastre of the Government that did not have the guts to declare independence as soon as the fabulous official results of the self-determination referendum were announced. English translation by M.S.
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Public Prosecutor warns CDRs

On 2 April 2018 the public prosecutor's office of the National Court (Madrid) issued the following communiqué, which has been put into circulation again in the social networks in recent days. The English rendering is by M.S. Note that no court in Europe has seen any shred of evidence of rebellion or sedition!

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16 de des. 2018

Interview with defence lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas (1 NOV 2018)

English translation (by M.S.) of an interview with defence lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas: 'This is utterly ludicrous'
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Constitutional Court judgment affecting 15 Catalan laws

The Constitutional Court has declared unconstitutional and therefore null and void a July 2018 motion adopted by the Parliament of Catalonia, reinstating the legality of all the articles of 15 laws, nearly all of a social nature, annulled by the Court as not being within the powers of the Catalan institutions. These are unofficial English translations (by M.S.).
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Judge Ramírez Sunyer withdraws charges of rebellion and sedition against Catalans (OCT 2018)

Judge Ramírez Sunyer withdraws charges of rebellion, sedition, etc. against forty Catalans involved in the self-determination referendum of October 1 2017. (8 OCT 2018) English translation (by M.S.)
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Interview with defence lawyer Gonzalo Boye

English translation (by M.S.) of an interview with defence lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who analyzes the charges laid by the Spanish prosecutor's office and the State's lawyer.
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The Carrasco case: not terrorism, just public disorders!

Two Catalans were arrested as suspects of terrorism - Yes, terrorism! - months ago. One fled into exile and is in Belgium. The other is confined to her home town, Viladecans. The National Court, months later, says that they might, at most, be accused of public disorders, and dumps the case on an unspecified court in Catalonia (English translation by M.S.) ... without raising her confinement.

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15 de des. 2018

"The problem of December 21st is not the independence movement", V. Partal

Vicent Partal (VilaWeb) reminds readers that the only violence to date has been by the Spaniush authorities, and asks them not to be fooled by fears of violence on the pro-independence side. The English translation is by M.S.

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"Serenity and firmness" by the 9 political prisoners

Here is an English rendering (by M.S.) of the article jointly signed by the nine Catalan political prisoners, insisting on their innocence and the justness of their cause, and calling for serenity and firmness in the run-up to the Supreme Court political trial. If anyone objects to this version or has a better one, please contact me.

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Motion in Parlament de Catalunya on Electoral Commission indictees (13/12/2018)

The following motion was adopted by the Parlament de Catalunya, with 73 Ayes and 57 Noes. It displays its support for five members of the Electoral Commission set up by law in September 2017 to supervise the 1 October 2017 self-determination referendum, who have recently been indicted by the Spanish authorities.

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National Appeal to ERC

This is an English translation (by M.S.) of the Appeal issued by a group of members of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, for a re-thinking of the party's current strategy as regards independence.

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14 de des. 2018

Jordi Galves: "Cornellà isn’t like Catalonia"

How is it possible to be guilty of a hate crime against a group that does not exist?", asks Milford Edge. The author of the following article, Jordi Galves, faces charges of "hate speech"... believe it or not.
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11 de des. 2018

Human Rights Day (communiqué by Catalan Association for Civil Rights)

This post contains an English translation (by MS) of the CATALAN ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS' communiqué on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 11 2018)
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10 de des. 2018

State Legal Service's Indictment of 18 Catalans, 2 November 2018

This post consists of an unofficial English translation of the Spanish State Legal Service's* indictment of two social and sixteen political leaders involved in the bid to allow Catalonia to vote to decide its political future on October 1 2017. The charges were laid on November 2, 2018.
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cosidó (to be translated)

Translation into English [pending] of article by Ferrer Molina in "El Español", 19 November 2018.
https://www.elespanol.com/espana/politica/20181119/controlaremos-sala-segunda-cosido-justificando-psoe-cgpj/354214577_0.html
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9 de des. 2018

Open letter by Minister Romeva's father

Here is the text, translated into English by M.S., of the open letter sent by Minister Raül Romeva's father to Elisenda Paluzie (President of the Catalan National Assembly), Marcel Mauri, (Vice-President of Òmnium Cultural) and Josep Maria Carreras (President of the Association of Local Authorities for Independence). 

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7 de des. 2018

ELEN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION on Catalonia

Here is the text of the ELEN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION on Catalonia, proposed by Plataforma per la Llengua and adopted by the Plenary, 3rd November 2018

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4 de des. 2018

Constitutional Court is blocking appeals

An article published in VilaWeb (English edition) on how Spain's Constitutional Court is preventing European courts from protecting the rights of Catalonia’s political prisoners.

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1 de des. 2018