A total of 70 prisoners from Catalonia's Lledoners prison have requested in a letter to the Spanish Supreme Court that Oriol Junqueras be allowed to take his seat as an MEP. One of the former Catalan vice president's fellow inmates collected signatures in his prison module in support of a petition which has been sent to Spain's highest court, as well as to the president of the European Parliament David Sassoli. In the letter, which has been accessed by the ACN agency, 70 of the 85 prisoners in the module affirm that there must be respect for democracy, universal suffrage and the right of the people to be represented by the person they choose.
The signatories, which include all the political prisoners except for Junqueras, declare their "support for MEP Oriol Junqueras" and urge the Supreme Court to "rectify its decision, and allow him to serve in the European Parliament to which he was elected and ratified by the president of the chamber, David Sassoli".
Photo: ACN
"We, of different nationalities and political orientations, believe in democracy and the respect it deserves; for this reason, we all sign with the conviction and hope that your lordships will hear this plural and unanimous voice which we consider to be representative of society which affirms, regardless of one's views, a belief in universal suffrage and the right of the people to be represented by the elected members they choose," the manifesto concludes.
The spokesperson for the initiative, in a letter sent to the ACN, stated that they would like society at large to "emulate" the signatories, sending "similar texts" to the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the writer states that he can "guarantee" that the initiative has been his alone and that "Junqueras and the rest of the political prisoners were the last to know and sign the manifesto" as "ordinary fellow prisonmates of the module". "Naturally, Oriol is the only one who hasn't signed it," it adds. The letter is dated January 30th and is stamped as being sent from Lledoners on February 5th.