The Catalan National Assembly and Òmnium Cultural called demonstrations for 7pm today in front of town halls around Catalonia for the release of the political prisoners. Today marks 5 months since Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart entered Soto del Real prison near Madrid. They are being held in pretrial detention without bail, accused of sedition and rebellion following a protest held in front of the Catalan economy ministry on 20th September last year.
In Barcelona, instead of in front of the city hall like yesterday's protest, the crowd gathered in plaça Universitat for a demonstration with a focus on the feminist cause. The stage, full of women, paid homage to those who also suffer repression. Videos filmed by Anna Gabriel, in Switzerland, Clara Ponsatí, in Scotland and Meritxell Serret, in Belgium, were shown on the screen. The exiles sent a message of courage to the public and called for the release of the political prisoners.
The demonstration was also attended by family members of the prisoners and political leaders, like the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent. Entities like political parties ERC, CUP and JxCat, unions UGT, CCOO and Unió de Pagesos, Barcelona city council and Acció Cultural del País Valencià also joined in.
Simultaneous gatherings were held in towns around the country. In Girona, a message from president Carles Puigdemont was also shown on the large screen. He had an optimistic message for attendees: "This will end well and we'll be able to see a country which is the result of what its citizens want".
Thousands of demonstrators called for unity of the pro-independence parties and noted that neither those in exile nor in prison are alone. Since Sànchez and Cuixart were sent to prison on 16th October last year there have been many demonstrations held calling for their release. However, the organisers said they would "not give up until they return home".