Arrests a step to a EU police state

Sir, – The arrest and detention of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in Germany and the arrest and release on bail of proindependence Catalan politician Clara Ponsati in Edinburgh indicate a major step toward the development of a police state in Europe.

The charges against Puigdemont and Posanti are as hypocritical as they are fraudulent.

The “crime” consists of nothing more than advancing the demand, which has a long political history, for the independence of Catalonia from Spain.

They have neither called for nor threatened violence to achieve this goal. The Catalan independence movement (like the Scottish one) has relied on peaceful and democratic means: elections, parliamentary motions and demonstrations.

The Spanish judge resorted to completely specious arguments, accusing Puigdemont, absurdly, of accepting that there was a risk of violence during protests against raids on Catalan ministries by Spanish security forces.

When democraticallyelected politicians are pursued in the EU for high treason, it is not hard to imagine how the leaders of mass protests would be treated.

The goal of the arrest of Puigdemont is to intimidate and smother all forms of resistance.

Europe’s rulers are responding to this growth of social and political opposition by moving ever more openly toward authoritarian and dictatorial forms of rule.

German authorities have arrested a Catalan prime minister once before, in 1940. The Gestapo detained Lluis Companys, who fled into French exile in 1936 after General Franco crushed the Spanish revolution and established his bloody dictatorship with German support.

They extradited Companys to Madrid, where he was tortured, sentenced to death and executed. Alan Hinnrichs. 2 Gillespie Terrace, Dundee.