TWO CATALAN SEPARATISTS IN SPANISH CUSTODY
Jailing of pair ‘very bad news,’ president says
A Spanish judge’s decision to jail the leaders of two pro-independence groups was met with a chorus of banging pots and pans, honking car horns and clapping in the streets of Barcelona.
Jordi Sanchez of the Catalan National Assembly and Jordi Cuixart of Omnium Cultural were sent to jail on Monday while they are investigated for sedition in their roles organizing demonstrations held last month in Barcelona.
The groups, the Catalan National Assembly and Omnium Cultural, have called for people across Catalonia to halt work at noon on Tuesday to protest the jailing of their leaders.
Both groups have been pivotal to the Catalan movement to secede from Spain and drawn thousands of people to demonstrations in support of the region’s independence.
Protests at the headquarters of the national government’s representatives in the Catalan provincial capitals also are scheduled for Tuesday evening.
The National Court in Madrid is investigating the roles Sanchez, Cuixart and two senior law enforcement officials played during demonstrations in Barcelona on Sept. 20-21. Spanish police arrested several Catalan officials and raided offices on those dates as part of the central government’s crackdown on preparations for the Oct. 1 referendum on Catalan independence.
Earlier on Monday, the judge ruled that Catalan regional police chief Maj. Josep Lluis Trapero and colleague Lt. Teresa Laplana could remain free under several conditions. They include surrendering their passports and agreeing to appear in court every two weeks.
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont called the jailing of the two leaders “very bad news.”
“They try to imprison ideas but they make stronger the need for freedom,” Puigdemont tweeted.
Also on Monday, Spain’s deputy prime minister said that Puigdemont didn’t give an adequate response in his letter about the region’s independence and has until Thursday to comply with the country’s laws.
Puigdemont’s letter, issued two hours before a Monday deadline, didn’t clarify whether he in fact declared Catalonia’s independence from Spain. He called for talks with Spain’s government.
Spain’s central government wanted a simple “yes” or “no” answer from Puigdemont, something that Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said that he didn’t provide.
Saenz de Santamaria told reporters that “it wasn’t very difficult to say yes or no. That was the question that was asked and the response shouldn’t be complicated.”
She said he has until Thursday morning to fall in line, or faces the possibility of Spain activating Article 155 of the Constitution which would allow the central government to take over parts of Catalonia’s self-governance.