Speaking more bluntly than before, as both Oriol Junqueras and Jordi Sànchez also did today, the president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, told Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena that there is no ideological freedom in Spain.
Cuixart made a short but forceful appearance in the Spanish Supreme Court today to be formally informed of the charges he will be taken to trial over. In fifteen minutes, reading a statement he brought prepared with him, he denounced the violation of his right to defence.
He reminded the judge that Catalans have been protesting, peacefully, for years. He defended civil protest as a tool for change, like retirees protesting about pensions around Spain and claimed that in Catalonia rights have always been exercised peacefully, denying the accusation of violence needed for the crime of rebellion they face.
Cuixart criticised Llarena, saying he is criminalising peaceful protest and that the only violence there was during the Catalan referendum was from the police.
Today marks six months that Cuixart, alongside Jordi Sànchez, have been in Soto del Real prison near Madrid. They were sent there after another hearing in the National Audience court.