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A meeting which shouldn't have taken place in these circumstances. That was how the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent, described his meeting this Thursday in Estremera prison near Madrid with Oriol Junqueras and Joaquim Forn. "This meeting should never have taken place here", he commented to journalists before heading to Soto del Real prison where Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart are. He promised the prisoners he would fight for their political rights "to the final consequences".

"They're men of peace, of profound democratic conviction, who shouldn't have to be inside the walls of a prison which cannot imprison ideas", said Roger Torrent when leaving the Madrid prison. He denounced them being deprived of their freedom for "a political cause", for their ideas, and put himself at their disposition for their release and for their political rights to be "respected".

The speaker insisted on the message he'd already expressed during his speech when assuming the role, in which he promised to defend the rights of all the Parliament's deputies, "that which the people have entrusted them with". He specified that it's not just about voting in the chamber, which they can do by delegating their votes, but about "all the rights and responsibilities being a deputy entails".

Torrent described the meeting as "very emotional". He said they discussed "the country, the political situation and their personal situations".