Former Catalan presidents and speakers urge jailed leaders on hunger strike to stop their protest

Former Catalan presidents and former speakers of the Catalan parliament urged, in a joint letter, the jailed pro-independence leaders on hunger strike to stop their protest – now on day 19, for some.

The document was signed by former presidents Carles Puigdemont, Artur Mas, José Montilla, Pasqual Maragall, and Jordi Pujol, former parliament speakers Carme Forcadell, Núria de Gispert, Ernest Benach and Joan Rigol, and the Catalan ombudsman Rafael Ribó.

Those who signed the letter stated that the hunger strike “gave visibility to their situation” and “shook conscience on a national and international scale.” They also write that the Spanish Constitutional Court has begun addressing the issues for which the protest was undertaken.

Turull and Sánchez announced an "indefinite" hunger strike on December 1 to denounce that Spain's Constitutional Court was "blocking" their cases reaching the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). They were later joined by former ministers Joaquim Forn and Josep Rull on December 3. Turull has since been transferred to the penitentiary infirmary, although his doctor deemed his condition “stable.”