ERC ‘joins different spaces,’ says jailed party leader

A hologram of Oriol Junqueras, president of pro-independence Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party, projected on stage at a Barcelona auditorium. Next to the image of the jailed leader, his brother Roger Junqueras, reading the words of the former vice president who is currently at the Lledoners penitentiary center.

According to Junqueras, his party can “can articulate vast political majorities.” Indeed, the imprisoned leader said that “the fact of being in this situation on stage” is “evidence” that the party sets “complex goals” for itself.

The ERC leader highlighted that his political group has the “fundamental goal” of “joining different spaces.” “We display a firm and explicit will, which we don’t intend to give up in any way, to reach out to these diverse political spaces,” stated Junqueras, with which he added the party “shares high ideals.”  

Junqueras is one of the pro-independence leaders who is currently imprisoned and charged for his role in the Catalan push for and declaration of independence. He has been held in pre-trial detention since 2017, and the trial for him and other leaders is expected to start sometime in the coming week.