SSP in Catalunya support

Rutherglen and Cambuslang’s Scottish Socialist Party joined a demonstration in support of Catalunya on Saturday.

The event in Glasgow was called by the Catalan Defence Committee Scotland.

Local SSP branch secretary David Stevenson said: “Following a referendum in favour of independence and the declaration of such by the Catalan Parliament, the government in Madrid dissolved the Catalan Parliament and forced new elections.

“Pro-independence parties were again returned as a majority while the Popular Party of Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy lost 8 of their 11 seats in the 135-seat Parliament.

“The Spanish state’s response to the democratic rejection of its’ strategy is to imprison more Catalan politicians and seek the extradition of others from EU countries including Scotland.

“The extradition of Clara Ponsati, a lecturer at St Andrews University and former Minister in the Catalan government is being pursued by Madrid under a European Arrest Warrant.

“When introduced, these warrants were alleged to be aimed at organised crime, but Spain is choosing to use them for political persecution.

“Her defence has been crowd funded by donations from thousands of people from all over Scotland and beyond to the tune of over £240,000.

“In supporting the Catalan Defence Committee, we support the right of the Catalan people to democratically decide their future and oppose political repression by the Spanish state.”

The group’s next branch meeting is on Thursday, April 26 in the Cambuslang Institute at 7.30pm.