Since that moment, the Spanish authorities have launched a systematic campaign of repression against the Catalan people, including the persecution of more than 3,300 peaceful activists and representatives, the imprisonment of nine civil and political leaders and the obstruction by the Spanish judiciary of Catalan elected representatives taking their seats in democratic institutions, including the European Parliament. Peaceful activists and representatives have been spied on illegally with very intrusive spyware, which can create a chilling effect among Catalan society, experts have warned, and there is a current attempt to criminalise the peaceful pro-independence movement with false accusations of terrorism.
These repressive actions have a huge negative impact on fundamental rights, especially the freedoms of speech, opinion, peaceful assembly, and the right to a fair trial and liberty and security as denounced by international institutions such as the United Nation’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions and the Council of Europe, and NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the World Organization Against Torture, and the International Commission of Jurists, among others.
After the failure of the dialogue with Spain, Catalan citizens need to take the reins. Spain currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and we must seize this opportunity to make a direct call on Europe to denounce the undemocratic Spanish state and to highlight that the Catalan struggle is far from over. We want the independence we voted for in 2017.
We demand greater political responsibility from the European Union: Europe must stop treating the Catalan issue as a Spanish “internal matter” and take a clear stand in the face of the political, judicial and linguistic repression by the Spanish state. It is time to move from empty words to action and confrontation, to achieve independence.