German left-wing party Die Linke is to obtain first-hand knowledge of the Catalan independence process this month, through a visit by its Bundestag MP Andrej Hunko to Catalonia, organised with the collaboration of the Hamburg branch of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC).
Hunko will come to Barcelona on January 9th and will meet the seven political prisoners who are in Lledoners prison: Jordi Sánchez, Jordi Cuixart, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Joaquim Forn and Raül Romeva. He will be the first German parliamentarian to visit them, a few weeks before they are expected to go to trial on charges that include rebellion, arising from the independence referendum in 2017 and the political process around it.
The Die Linke MP will also speak to Catalan foreign minister Alfred Bosch, as well as Catalan parliamentary deputies, according to the ANC in Hamburg.
Very happy to report that @AndrejHunko @dieLinke will be 1st German MP to visit #presospolítics (@junqueras @jcuixart @jordialapreso @raulromeva). Thx to @ANCHamburg & fellow @Foreign_Cat C. Berger for organizing. Hunko will also visit w/ @AlfredBosch & others. Cc: @cem_oezdemir pic.twitter.com/XYATyDmSdi
— Thomas G. Schulze 🎗 (personal account) (@Prof_TGSchulze) 4 de gener de 2019
Hunko has been interested in the Catalan process since its early days, and has addressed several written questions on the issue to the German government, especially relating to whether exiled president Carles Puigdemont was spied on by Spanish intelligence in German territory, during the road journey from Finland when he was eventually arrested. Such espionage activity would be illegal in Germany, but Angela Merkel's executive says it has no evidence that it took place.
Die Linke, which has 69 MPs in Germany's 709-seat Bundestag, has always supported the release of the Catalan political prisoners and of the return of exiles, unlike its left-wing counterpart in Spain, Podemos.