Anderson visits Catalan political prisoners and calls for their immediate release
7 September, 2018 - by Martina Anderson MEP
Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson has today visited imprisoned Catalan political representatives and independence activists jailed by the Spanish authorities and demanded their immediate release.
Speaking from Catalonia, Martina Anderson said:
"I and my MEP colleague Lynn Boylan today met with Catalan elected representatives and independence activists who are being held in three Spanish jails following the Catalan independence referendum.
"I also met with the Catalan President, Quim Torro, to discuss the plight of the prisoners and their families and extend our solidarity to their cause.
"As a former prisoner who is now an elected representative it is important that I visit these imprisoned Catalan elected representatives and raise their cases on the international stage.
"I was in Catalonia twice as an observer to the elections and saw at first hand the brutality meted out by the Spanish authorities against those who were simply trying to exercise their democratic right to self-determination.
"So it is unacceptable that Catalan elected representatives, including ministers, and independence activists should now find themselves in Spanish jails. And there are serious concerns that they will not get a fair trial.
"The continued detention of these Catalan political prisoners is an affront to democracy and they should be released immediately."