Thousands hit streets in Barcelona to support on-trial former Catalan leader Mas

February 6th, 2017

Awake Goy

Mas served as Catalan president from 2010 to January 2016, when he stepped down in the hopes that pro-independence parties could form a new coalition.

According to Catalan News Agency (CNA), a crowd of about 40,000 people gathered on Monday in downtown Barcelona to show their support for Mas, as well as former Vice-President Joana Ortega and former Education Minister Irene Rigau. All three stand accused of civil disobedience and staging a 2014 informal referendum on independence in breach of a legal order from Madrid.

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Mas’s supporters shouted “independence, independence,” “down with Spain’s justice system,” and “we want to vote” as they lined the avenue in front of the courthouse where the trial is taking place. The three defendants stood on the steps to greet their supporters, who held up banners that read “We are all 9-N,” in reference to the 2014 referendum, which was held on November 9.

If convicted, Mas could face a decade-long ban from politics.

“Today, many of us feel as if we’re being tried,” said the Catalan regional government president, Carles Puigdemont.

“On the 9-N, 2.3 million people expressed their opinion on the relationship between Catalonia and Spain in a consultation, which responded to the compromise between citizens and their representatives,” he went on, as cited by CNA.

“Many of us feel tried today, and thus we will show our outrage over what we consider a political trial.

“A country which is able to hold a consultation such as the 9-N has a healthier democracy than that of a country which puts on trial those who made it possible,” he told the crowd.

On Sunday, Mas himself addressed the issue with reporters.

“We are determined to go forward. We did what had to be done in 2014 and we would do it again if the circumstances allow it again,” he was quoted as saying by AFP.

“We are defending the cause of democracy, (which) is a universal cause … We have been very firm to allow the Catalan people to vote. That was our duty, our responsibility and our aim.”

Source Article from https://www.rt.com/news/376486-barcelona-protest-mas-trial/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS