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Recent statements by Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis, on the prison cells that members of the Catalan government are occupying and the one that president Carles Puigdemont is going to occupy if he is extradited to Spain by the Belgian authorities, have not received the response that they deserve even though they demonstrate the meanness that the human condition can at times reach. Dastis said that the cell "has all the comforts which, not only the prisoners, but many other persons would love to enjoy". The fact that he made the statements standing beside his Saudi Arabian counterpart, where the prisons must leave quite a lot to be desired, does not in the least justify the levity of his references. The loss of one's freedom is the worst thing that can happen to a human being, and it should only be taken away on very exceptional occasions. The case before us at present is a legal abuse of the concept of preventive detention, since none of the justifications for imposing this ruling exist. Neither the National Audience court has the competence required, nor are the specific measures of preventive detention without bail in accordance with the law.

For Dastis to speak like this, however, is no mere coincidence. It is aligned with a comprehensive strategy by the Spanish state directed at the international community, trying to play down the enormous damage being done to the Catalan institutions and to those who previously led them, now evicted via a clearly arbitrary interpretation of the constitution. Another senior leader of the governing Popular Party (PP), the general coordinator Fernando Martínez-Maíllo, also resorted to contempt and sarcasm in a reference to president Puigdemont in a recent visit to Catalonia, after front-page press stories appeared with photos showing the exiled members of the Catalan government in Brussels having dinner with a Flemish politician at his invitation. According to Maíllo, Puigdemont is "enjoying feasts in Brussels while his colleagues are in prison".

It is probable that Maíllo is one of those who wishes to see them not only in prison or exile but, as well, in the most absolute economic ruin. In fact, his party favours such ends when the PP government asks for massive bail payments, justified by spending that never occurred. The proposition of obtaining victory over opponents through the strict application of the law seems to have slipped into the past, and now the only objective is to crush and annihilate them. Making them disappear from the map and laughing at them because they do not have the money to pay enormous bail demands. Desiring that reality will suddenly be wiped from view. And that, afterwards, things will be different and nothing will take place as they had dreamed. I am very sure that Maíllo is not at all interested in how Puigdemont and his four ministers live while they are residing in Brussels. If he knew, he would drop such comments out of decency and try to get on with some politics. A profession that is very noble, although he may not know that.