Versión en español



On Monday morning, agents of the Spanish Civil Guard illegitimately detained nine activists for the independence of Catalonia, militants of the Defense Committees of the Republic (CDR), in the context of a series of raids in several Catalan towns and a strong media campaign. With false accusations and fake evidence, the government seeks to create a climate of repression and intimidation.

Using the Antiterrorist Law and violating the presumption of innocence, the entity in charge of the operation, the Audiencia Nacional Española (Spanish National Audience"inherited" from Franco’s repressive apparatus) curtails the democratic rights of the detainees and the Catalan population.

The illegitimate detentions are of a political nature. The court raised alleged terrorist actions in the as part of the trial for the "procés": the lawsuit against the leaders of the independence process of 2017, whose sentencing is expected in the coming weeks. We are facing an attempt by the State to condition the development of events. These repressive measures aim at deactivating (neutralizing) new struggles, when a change is beginning to take place in the street mobilizations: less multitudinous than in the past, but also more radicalized and with greater weight of left-wing organizations.

In Catalonia, thousands of people had taken to the streets, in different counties, for the release of the detainees. The freedom of political prisoners unjustly imprisoned and the struggle for self-determination of nations is a task for every socialist.