Jailed leader on hunger strike: 'I thought it'd be worse; I feel like I'm floating'

One of the Catalan pro-independence leaders on hunger strike in prison, Jordi Turull, said on day four of his protest that so far he is coping well.

"I thought it would be worse; I feel like I'm floating," he said in an interview with the RAC1 radio station on Wednesday. Turull said he has been told that "there shouldn't be a problem" in the first three weeks of the strike.

"I have not eaten anything at all," Turull claimed, going on to explain that he drinks only "water and a serum, as well as coffee."

The former minister also said his family was dealing well with his decision until they heard on TV that the important thing for hunger strikers "is not to be alone." "And I spend 14 hours a day alone," he added.

"A referendum is not illegal in Spain," claims Turull

Turull says he spends his time answering letters, while also taking the opportunity to try to quit smoking, as well as preparing for his trial, which he says he is "very much looking forward to."

The former government spokesman said he and another three leaders in custody decided to go on hunger strike because Spain's Constitutional Court is deliberately "delaying" taking decisions on their appeals to prevent them from reaching the international courts.

In the interview, he said he wants to deny the rebellion charges before the judge, because "holding a referendum is not illegal in Spain" and there was no "violence."

He also revealed that a former top Socialist politician visited him because they were "friends" but complained that opposition leader, Inés Arrimadas, has so far not turned up.

Voice of Dolors Bassa

Also on Wednesday, the voice of another jailed leader, Dolors Bassa, was leaked by Catalan public television (TV3) for the first time since she was imprisoned on March 23, 2018.

Bassa was taking part in a radio programme on employment at the Puig de les Basses prison. She was the Catalan labor minister from January 2016 to October 2017, when she was removed from her post by the Spanish government a few weeks after the independence referendum.

Bassa, who has been in pre-trial jail from March 2018, was also interviewed by the same TV outlet.

"I am not fine, I would be fine if free," says Bassa

"I am firm and calm, more balanced than when I was first incarcerated. But I am not fine, I would be fine if free, at home," she said.

During the interview, Bassa supported the four jailed leaders on hunger strike, including Turull. "I am with them mentally," she said, while also expressing her wish to be together with her fellow jailed former ministers at some point before the trial "to prepare the defense well."