Harassment against Catalan pro-independence political leaders and independence supporters must end

Written declaration No. 728 | Doc. 15385 | 30 September 2021

Signatories:

Ms Laura CASTEL, Spain, UEL ; Ms Nerea AHEDO, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Gökay AKBULUT, Germany, UEL ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Mr François CALVET, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Sokratis FAMELLOS, Greece, UEL ; Mr Paul GAVAN, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Ólafur Þór GUNNARSSON, Iceland, UEL ; Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Mr Momodou Malcolm JALLOW, Sweden, UEL ; Ms Mai KIVELÄ, Finland, UEL ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Mr Gianni MARILOTTI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Hişyar ÖZSOY, Turkey, UEL ; Mr Thomas PRINGLE, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Roberto RAMPI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Søren SØNDERGAARD, Denmark, UEL ; Ms Feleknas UCA, Turkey, UEL

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We are deeply concerned about the ongoing repression happening since 2017 against pro-independence supporters.

Catalan President Puigdemont (elected MEP) was recently arrested in Italy, at Alghero Airport, following a European Arrest Warrant.

The judicial strategy of the Supreme Court of Spain puts in jeopardy principles of solidarity among members of the European Union space and is in breach of fundamental human rights. It has failed in Germany, Belgium, Scotland and hopefully Italy.

The Parliamentary Assembly previously recognised that extradition or irregular lifting of immunities should not be abused to silence disrupting initiatives.

Moreover, we should strive to protect and promote non-violent speech, however disturbing it may be, insofar as criminalisation only exacerbates the existing wound to the detriment of our values.

Therefore, European institutions should not avoid this debate any longer, including on self-determination, and should use available means to secure parliamentarian representation.

We call on Spanish authorities to immediately withdraw the existing European Arrest Warrants and extradition orders against all Catalan politicians in exile.

We encourage an amnesty for all those judicially harassed and active political negotiations to take place, where a safe solution is found to meet Catalans’ aspirations, in line with the recommendations drawn last June by the Assembly.