The Catalan independence movement wants to fill the streets of Strasbourg with a mass rally to support the reinstated MEPs Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín as they attend their first plenary session of the European Parliament on January 13th. The march has been called by the group Omplim Estrasburg, and will also demand the rights of the jailed Oriol Junqueras as an elected parliamentarian and the right to self-determination of the people of Catalonia.
In a press statement, the collective stated that Catalans want to "decide their future freely, without threats, repression or violence" and that, therefore, they "demand" that the "European Parliament recognize that the right to "self-determination is a fundamental right of Europeans and Spain must accept that it is the solution to the conflict between Catalonia and Spain".
El dia 13 de gener, tornem a OMPLIR ESTRASBURG. Per acompanyar als nostres Eurodiputats @KRLS i @toni_comin, exigir q @junqueras pugui exercir d'Eurodiputat i q la UE obligui Espanya a reconèixer el dret a l'autodeterminació de Catalunya.Signa el MANIFEST: https://t.co/VbXekbOasT
— Omplim Estrasburg - Comunicats (@OmplimEST) December 21, 2019
Translation:
"On January 13th, let's FILL STRASBOURG again. To support our MEPs @KRLS Puigdemont and @toni_comin, demanding that Oriol @junqueras must be able to take up his position as an MEP and that the EU must oblige Spain to recognize Catalonia's right to self-determination."— Omplim Estrasburg
As the text mentions, the independence movement previously held a massive protest in Strasbourg on July 2nd 2019, to call for Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras and Toni Comín to be allowed to take up their MEP positions following their election. It was not possible and, in fact, Puigdemont and Comin were unable to join the rally outside the European Parliament and remained in German territory.
The call for the protest refers to last week's EU court decision on the parliamentary immunity of Oriol Junqueras, ruling that MEPs become so from the moment election results are proclaimed and not from when they swear allegiance to the Spanish Constitution. According to the organizers, "this decision has a devastating effect on the action of the Spanish state which had acted to prevent the representation in the European Parliament of more than two million votes," the votes which went to the three pro-independence MEPs last April.
Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament and sessions are held there at least 12 times a year, although the majority of the parliament's business is conducted in its other major seat, in Brussels.