* A collection of digital resources to get to know the Catalan people better.
* Une collection de ressources numériques pour mieux connaître le peuple catalan.
* Una colección de recursos digitales para conocer mejor al pueblo catalán.
An article by Quico Sallés, on the Spanish secret service's involvement in the capture of President Puigdemont in Germany, on charges of "rebellion, terrorism and homicide [sic]". The German court later refused his extradition. The author has kindly authorized the publication of this English translation.
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COURT RULING. Judge Llarena turned down the public prosecutor's request to issue a second European Arrest Warrant when the exiled President Puigdemont announced (while intending to be invested as president of Catalonia for a second term) he was to give a lecture in Denmark. The reasoning is bizarre!
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Here is an English translation (by MS) of a fascinating analysis of why President Puigdemont is standing for election to the European Parliament in May. I hope @KoldoPereda doesn't mind.
I hope no-one in El Confidencial objects to this translation (by MS) of its article "El Gobierno ignora dos informes y descarta personarse en Bélgica en nombre de Llarena".
***** Click below on "Més informació" if need be, to read the whole post *****
From the very beginning Clara Ponsati utterly refuted the charges she faced and Spain was accused of abusing the European Arrest Warrant for politically motivated prosecutions.
So today’s withdrawal of all the European Arrest Warrants by the Spanish Supreme Court is a tremendous victory for the Catalan politicians and people.
The warrant failed to ever specify a single act of violence or incitement attributable to Clara or her fellow ministers. Unsurprisingly there is no mention of the actions of several thousand Spanish police and 6000 State Security Forces accused of carrying out brutal unprovoked attacks on a civilian population at over 2000 polling stations.
In a civilised democracy Police Officers are the guardians of law and order, who protect the public they serve, yet the actions of the Spanish police on October 1st have been compared to the dark days of Francoism. We ask the Spanish judiciary and Judge Llarena why no warrants have been issued for a single Spanish police officer for their violent actions against a defenceless population.
To put the charge that Clara faced in context, just try to imagine if the First Minister of Scotland were to call a referendum and Theresa May sent in 15,000 police officers to attack voters and then imprisoned half the Scottish Government whilst issuing warrants for Nicola Sturgeon and others who fled to Europe, threatening them with over 30 years in prison for treason if convicted. Of course that scenario is an impossible nightmare but that is the situation Catalonia faces today.
Contrary to the arguments of the arrest warrant, the gathering of citizens constitutes an exercise of their right to freedom of association and cannot be compared with an act of violence. A true democracy guarantees the absolute freedom of expression for MPs and ministers in exercising their powers. They must be able to speak freely, independently and without fear of any form of prosecution or punishment.
We welcome the withdrawal of the European Arrest Warrants albeit that we still await official confirmation from Spain. But whilst this is a tremendous victory we also remind people that Political Prisoners still remain in custody in Spain. Clara and others have not had their national warrants withdrawn, thus making Clara a political exile which means if she were to return home she would be arrested. We also await to see the next step of the Spanish authorities as they could still reissue revised European Arrest Warrants although this would clearly be a further example of an abuse of the treaty.
If President Sanchez is truly different from the regime of Rajoy then the only solution is a political solution which must mean a guaranteed return of the political exiles and release of all political prisoners with no conditions attached. It is the sovereign right of the Catalan people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs and it can never be illegal under international law for a people to express their right to self-determination.
Clara would like me to thank the people of Scotland, the UK, her fellow Catalans and Europeans as well as the SNP, the Green Party, the STUC and Scottish Government for their tremendous support for her and the Catalan people. Their solidarity will never be forgotten.
I was amazed to read that the Spanish Supreme court is making utterly political considerations regarding president Puigdemont's EAW and the recent Schleswig-Holstein high court decision. I only hope these are mere speculations by the journalist.
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2. Nuestro legislador, al recoger en la descripción ldel tipo penal el adverbio que modaliza la acción (violentamente), elude inmrporar al tipo penal el sustantivo que se sugiere. Actúa Violentamente quien Io hace de manera violenta, lo que no presenta un contenido tipico plenamente coincidente con actuar con violencia.
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In his 2 March 2017 article "El somni de les bullangues", Francesc de Dalmases writes (my translation):
The dream of bullangues
Francesc de Dalmases
2 March 2017
During the second half of the 19th century, some Catalan cities were the scene of "bullangues". Under the name of bullangues, we recall the unsuccessful progressive riots that took place because of the broken pprogressive omises and impositions of the Spanish government.
Among the promoters of bullangues were workers' movements and the most modern sectors of the Catalan petty bourgeoisie, unhappy with the Jacobin conception of the State.
When we recall the bullangues, we talk about violent insurgencies with immediate effects on the everyday life of the cities wheve they happened: the murder of high-ranking military officers, the demolition of monarchic symbols, the torching of churches and the destruction of factories and the industrialists' buildings.
To quash these popular uprisings, the Spanish government exerted a brutal repression against the workers' movements and pursued with surgical precision and martial determination the petty bourgeoisie that had sponsored or accompanied them.
These insurrections, however, had a Lampedusian touch to them. What was to be a new fire petered out. Moreover, it was the perfect storm for the government of Madrid to establish even more rigid military and political control systems in the main Catalan cities. In other words, not only did we go back to the initial situation, but state power and control over the municipalities of the Principality was also consolidated, extended and rooted.
In Catalonia in 2017 we have observed with astonishment how people, from prosecutor Magdali to "terriodista" ("terrovmongering journalist") Inda, have had the complicity of most of the Spanish media, with good exceptions like eldiario.es, to try to build a narrative of latent violence within the framework and the ranks of the supporters of independence. https://www.media.cat/2017/03/02/el-somni-de-les-bullangues/
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Events are falsely attibuted to the independence movement to support this narrative. Here is a good example:
Fake images used in unionist campaign over Barcelona assault
British police chief rejects claim Catalan separatists were violent
Graham Keeley, MadridThe TimesSpanish police closed polling stations on referendum day, but the “vast majority of protesters can be assessed as non-violent”
The vast majority of protesters did not use violence against police during the Catalan independence referendum campaign, according to an independent report by a senior British police officer. The findings of Sir Hugh Orde, a former chief constable with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and expert on public order, contradict the narrative presented by the prosecution in the trial of 12 separatist leaders.
The Spanish government has been at pains to show it is a fair trial, but it has been criticised for its heavy handedness in what is essentially a political dispute. The prosecution alleges that the Catalan leaders led violent clashes with police before and during the referendum vote on October 1, 2017.
The report, which was commissioned by the defence,…
This my English translation of an article, "Spanien klagt Puigdemont und 12 katalanische Politiker wegen Rebellion an", published in German on June 28 2018. I hope Ralf Streck does not object.
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This is the letter judge Llarena sent to Frau Führer, chief public prosecutor of Schleswig-Holstein, on May 17 2018, the day after the rejection of his EAW by a Brussels court.
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A former CUP MP has told the media about her latest encounter with Supreme court judge Llarena. **** Click below on "Més informació" to read a translation into English of the interview ****
Unofficial English translation (by M. Strubell) of Speaker Roger Torrent's letter to judge Llarena requesting prison leave for Jordi Sànchez, for his investiture as President of Catalonia. The judge turned down the request, yet another example of judicial interference in parliamentary activity.
This is an English translation by Dr. M. McNaught of the Catalan Speaker's solemn Declaration in Parliament today, following the detention without bail of five Catalan MPs (two of which have resigned to ensure the pro.independence majority in Parliament).
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, if need be, to access the whole text.
