Two years after the protest which led him to provisional detention, Jordi Cuixart, president of Catalan pro-independence organisation Òmnium, has announced he "will serve the whole [of any] sentence" the Supreme Court may impose. He said he hasn't signed the individualised program which could give him access to special treatment and privileges.
Privileges prisoners can earn in Spain include systems like the tercer grado (literally "third degree"). This includes the possibility of short-term release, for example for weekends, often only available for prisoners facing long sentences once they have served half their time.
Interviewed by Catalunya Ràdio from Lledoners prison, Cuixart said he takes it for granted he'll be sentenced to around 14 years in prison. Asked about his fellow prisoners, he said he'll "never criticise anyone who goes for another option".
He added that Òmnium will not ask for a pardon, which would involve admitting guilt whilst he maintains he is innocent. "With a pardon, the state admits publicly that the facts we've been sentenced over are unjust," he said.
Cuixart offered himself to "agree and lead the civil response" to the court's sentence, a response which he says has to be meaningful, else it would show a "lack of respect". He says they will have to respond to it from within prison as well, not just the public and the political world outside the fences, always looking for democratic, non-violent solutions and broad consensuses.