The Catalan government has held an extraordinary cabinet meeting this Friday after returning from Brians 2 prison, where they saw off the political prisoners on their way to Madrid. After the meeting, president Quim Torra read an official statement in English, calling on the international community to react to what he described as the "crude repression of the Spanish state".
He introduced the speech in Catalan, saying "we're in the hours before a trial which will change our country and its relationship with the kingdom of Spain for ever". That trial, is said, goes "against Catalonia's right to self-determination and against democracy".
On the threshold of this trial against democracy, we call on the international community and anyone committed to justice and freedom to join the Catalan people in their defence of principles and values that make the world a place, more fair, more safe and more free. pic.twitter.com/RF8xbGQkua
— Quim Torra i Pla (@QuimTorraiPla) 1 février 2019
Switching to English, he said the prisoners have nothing to defend themselves over as they've committed no crime. "They will denounce the state for violating civil and political rights and for the crude repression that has caused concern both here and around the world," he said.
The president made his speech from the government's palace's Gothic gallery, the site of a number of significant speeches over this process. He was accompanied by all his ministers, except for Alfred Bosch and Jordi Puigneró who are abroad.
Torra called on the international community, members of the public and governments, civil society and the media committed to justice and freedom to "join the Catalan people in their defence of principles and values that make the world a fairer, safer and freer place".
"The problem for the defendants in this trial, the problem for Catalan democrats, is also a problem for the international community and especially the European Union. We are European citizens with rights and freedoms that must be protected by Europe's institutions," he said.
Declaració institucional del #Govern pel trasllat dels presos polítics a Madrid. pic.twitter.com/RfLbShstbr
— Govern. Generalitat (@govern) 1 de febrero de 2019
Switching back to Catalan, he again denounced "pretrial detention used as a punishment and sentence before the trial, the liquidation of the most basic parliamentary rights, the attempt to modify the composition of a parliament which arose from an imposed election [and] the continued judicialisation of politics". "We're facing a premeditated strategy to liquidate the expression and democratic will of the Catalan people".
Torra guaranteed his government's intent to not give up or back down in the face of what he described as a wave of repression and a regression of democracy in the Spanish state. He called on Pedro Sánchez's government to act with courage and warned that the only way to guarantee the necessary changes is dialogue and negotiation.
As on other occasions in recent days, he insisted that the trial asks questions of all Catalans as a society, and of the government as an institution. "Let's be dignified, let's again demonstrate our commitment: democracy, non-violence, justice and freedom," he concluded.