Sturgeon slams Spain for jailing Catalans

– Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has criticised the detention of eight Catalan ministers over their role in the region’s independence drive, calling for a democratic resolution to the crisis.

“The disagreement about Catalonia’s future is political,” the Scottish National Party leader, an advocate of Scotland’s independence from the United Kingdom, wrote on Twitter.

“It should be resolved democratically – not by the jailing of

London

political opponents.”

A Spanish judge was set yesterday to issue an arrest warrant for Catalonia’s deposed leader, Carles Puigdemont, over his region’s contested independence push, in a move likely to further escalate tensions in Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

The European arrest warrant was due a day after a large chunk of Puigdemont’s government was thrown behind bars pending probes in Madrid into their role in Catalonia’s moves towards secession.

“Regardless of opinion on Catalonia, the jailing of elected leaders is wrong and should be condemned by all democrats,” added Sturgeon.

Puigdemont’s government organised an independence referendum on October 1, despite a court ban.

Spanish police tried and failed to stop it, in some cases firing rubber bullets at people defending polling stations.–