The secessionist entity appeals
to citizens to come and "demand the EU to react" to the trial of 1-O
Looks to
Europe. With the aim of focusing the claim within the framework of the European
Union the Catalan National Assembly
(ANC) has taken advantage of the demonstration against the transfer of procés prisoners to Madrid jails to
occupy the headquarters of the European
Commission and the European
Parliament in Barcelona.
As of 6:00 pm,
tens of people have concentrated on the building located at the confluence
between Passeig de Gràcia and Calle Provença in protest for the 1-O trial and to demand the exercise of
the right to self-determination. A total of 21 demonstrators -according to the
entity itself- have accessed the European headquarters and have locked
themselves, while outside there has been an increase, to be counted in hundreds,
in the number of people blocking the door of the premises.
“We demand that the EU reacts;
self-determination is a right and not a crime"
Catalan National Assembly
Moments after the occupation, the ANC itself has made an appeal through the social networks for its supporters to concentrate at the door of the headquarters, taking advantage of the fact that many of them were on their way to the demonstration that had been convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Jardinets de Gràcia.
"We demand
the EU to react, self-determination is a right and not a crime," defends
the entity chaired by Elisenda Paluzie by way of Twitter, in a message in which
she demands that the citizens accompany them. "Everyone here, we stay,
come," they ask. From the own entity they assure that their intention is
to spend the whole night in the building and leave this Saturday at 11.00 in
the morning and, in fact, they encourage all the participants to accompany them
from outside in the street.
Concentration at the headquarters
of the Commission
The ANC has delivered a letter
addressed to Juncker (EC) in which they request the intervention of the EU
institutions in the face of the "violation of fundamental rights"
Shortly thereafter,
the ANC has made public the letter delivered to the EU headquarters in the
Catalan capital; in the letter they explain the reasons for the occupation. The
letter, addressed to the president of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Claude
Juncker, and to the head of the EC representation in Barcelona, Ferran
Tarradellas, states that nine pro-independence leaders have been transferred to
Madrid for a trial whereby they face "charges for a crime, rebellion, that
they did not commit".
"The only
violence in the process of self-determination in Catalonia has been that of the
Spanish police that repressed the referendum", they add.
ANC
The letter, signed by Paluzie,
calls for the application of Article 7 of the EU Treaty to Spain
In this respect,
the Assemblea emphasizes that "democratic societies and their institutions
cannot tolerate the violation of fundamental rights in the heart of
Europe". "Spain is treading on the human, civil and political rights
of the Catalan minority," she adds.
Therefore, the
entity piloted by Paluzie claims to the EC to activate Article 7 of the Treaty
of the European Union "to deprive the Spanish State of their voting rights
and representation." "The credibility of the EU and the entire
process of European integration is at stake," she argues.
Support of the parties
ERC and the CUP applaud the
occupation of the ANC
After Paluzie’s
itemizing of the reasons for the rally, CUP member of Parliament Carles Riera
has taken the floor to "congratulate the ANC for the bravery and
courage" of this occupation. "Today the European Union is a prison
and a space increasingly opposed to real democracy," the representative of
the anti-capitalist party has ruled.
ERC has also
shown its support for the concentration through its member of Parliament Ruben
Wagensberg, present in the mobilization. "We are in front of the European
Commission because when it comes to civil liberties and fundamental rights we
are very used to their looking the other way round". "If Europe wants
to be worthy of its fundamental rights, what it has to do is taking sides
because it has the right to and, above all, the duty to put the focus on what
is going on in Catalonia."
The Catalan
singer-songwriter and former member of Junts pel Sí Lluís Llach has also
spoken, proclaiming that "in the face of the growth of fascism, Catalonia
is a very important bastion of civic defense", and has asked to resist in
the face of the difficult days that, according to his own prediction, are
coming.
During the
rally, members of the ANC have hung a banner with the motto Self-determination is a right, not a crime
on the balcony of the building. They have also placed a black ribbon in the
center of the European Union flag.
A few meters away
from the Barcelona headquarters of the EC, Arran
- a youth group affiliated with the CUP - which had organized a demonstration
in parallel, has dumped paint and thrown eggs against the door of the Superior
Prosecutor's Office of Catalonia. After that, the anti-capitalist group has
gone to the Conselleria d'Interior (Departmernt of Domestic Affairs), from
where they have demanded the resignation of its owner, Miquel Buch: "Today
you are equally guilty of repression."
This same Friday
the Assemblea had called a demonstration in the Jardinets against the trial of
1-O, a few hours after this morning the nine prisoners of the procés had been transferred from Catalan
prisons to Madrid prisons Soto del Real and Alcalá Meco, in order to attend the
trial that will start on Tuesday, February 12.
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