Singer Joan Baez expresses support for independence movement

Legendary American singer-songwriter, Joan Baez, on Friday visited the former parliament speaker, Carme Forcadell, in the Mas d'Enric prison, and afterwards she expressed her support for Catalan independence.

"I give my support to the independence movement in Catalonia and hope that anyone watching this understands that it is the only intelligent approach to this," said Baez on leaving the prison after her visit.

Baez, who on a number of occasions has showed support for the jailed Catalan leaders, said "I've been supportive of non-violent movements everywhere all of my life, and the Catalan movement is therefore for me very important and interesting."

Referring to her wish to visit Forcadell, who is facing up to 17 years in prison for rebellion, Baez added that "among the things I wanted to do was visit somebody who is paying the price for what they have done."

Baez said that Forcadell "seemed to me like a very strong woman, but in between sadness, because her family can visit for one day a week for one hour, or two days a week for half an hour, and that's something we on the outside do not understand." 

Baez performed at the Jardins de Terramar festival on Thursday. Now on her final tour, the 'Fare Thee Well... Tour 2019', the singer will say goodbye to the Catalan public for the last time on Saturday at the Porta Ferrada festival in Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

Aside from a distinguished musical career, Baez has been an activist since the 1960s, and Amnesty International created a prize bearing her name in 2011. The Amnesty International Joan Baez Award goes to artists who have helped advance human rights.