The Catalan foreign affairs, institutional relations and transparency minister, Alfred Bosch, travelled to Westminster for the feast day of Saint George (Sant Jordi in Catalan), the patron of both England and Catalonia. At a reception in the Palace of Westminster, he called for the release of the imprisoned pro-independence politicians.
At an event also attended by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, Bosch recalled that his former Catalan counterpart, Carme Forcadell, is imprisoned "for allowing a debate" on self-determination. This wasn't the first time that Forcadell's imprisonment had been brought up in the Palace of Westminster.
🏛 Conseller @AlfredBosch des de #Westminster: “La lliure paraula és sagrada, i l’hem de defensar arreu. A l’Estat espanyol hi ha gent a la presó per haver defensat la llibertat d’expressió i la democràcia, com la presidenta del Parlament @ForcadellCarme” pic.twitter.com/fulwCjhhES
— Exteriors Catalunya (@exteriorscat) 23 d’abril de 2019
Translation. (First tweet) Minister Alfred Bosch: "Sant Jordi is the day of love and free speech in Catalonia. Today, books and roses are everywhere." (Second tweet) Minister Alfred Bosch from Westminster: "Free speech is sacred, and we have to defend it everywhere. In the Spanish state there are people in prison for having defended freedom of expression and democracy, like the Parliament's speaker, Carme Forcadell."
The minister said the "Spanish state has a problem with freedom of expression", something he thinks should be defended as a "sacred" right.