Acting Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, has commented after learning of the decision by Spain's Supreme Court to deny to release acting vice-president Oriol Junqueras from prison. Puigdemont said that the Catalan prisoners are actually "hostages", heating up his rhetoric.
In a tweet, he said that: "there is a conflict to resolve between Catalonia and Spain. We've always bet on the peaceful path and dialogue. The ballot boxes have spoken three times unequivocally. Despite that, Junqueras is held in Estremera. And the Jordis. And Quim. They're no longer political prisoners, they're hostages".
Hi ha un conflicte a resoldre entre Catalunya i Espanya. Nosaltres hem apostat sempre per la via pacífica i el diàleg. Les urnes han parlat 3 vegades inequívocament. Malgrat això @junqueras és retingut a Estremera. I els Jordis. I en Quim. Ja no són #presospolítics, són ostatges pic.twitter.com/zpv3tb73yX
— Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) 5 de gener de 2018
According to Enciclopèdia Catalana, "ostatge", the word used by the president, is defined as a person someone holds as collateral with an objective that is often political or, sometimes, for profit.