Barcelona City Council demands the “immediate release” of all “political prisoners”

The City Council of Barcelona held an extraordinary plenary session this Friday morning November 3. Called to address the issue of the recently incarcerated eight deposed Catalan government ministers, the plenary called for the “immediate” release of all “political prisoners.” They also expressed support for the ministers, which they consider the “legitimate” government of Catalonia.

The Barcelona City Council issued a statement, with the support of the ruling citizen platform Barcelona en Comú (Barcelona in Common, or BeC), the Democratic Party, the Republican Left, the far left CUP and the independent councilor Gerard Ardanuy. In the statement, the entities reject Spain’s “repressive escalation” in recent months. The document also defends that the eight prisoners “always” acted “peacefully and democratically, in accordance with the mandate that arose from the polls.”

The statement further calls for an “end to the judicialization of Catalan politics” and condemns “the arbitrary and partisan” ways in which the laws are being applied, “by perverting the separation of powers that any worthy Rule of Law must guarantee.”