Jailed pro-independence leader to stand as candidate in European election

Jailed pro-independence leader Oriol Junqueras is to run in the upcoming European election. He made the announcement in a letter from prison on Saturday. 

Junqueras, former Catalan vicepresident and a former MEP, said that he wants to defend his "political rights" and "keep fighting."

The ERC leader, who has been in jail for almost a year, will lead his party ticket in the European election, to be celebrated in May next year.

If he becomes an MEP, he will be the first politician in jail to assume the post, therefore internationalizing his political cause.

 "Running in the European election is the best way to avoid the repression that they want to impose upon us," he said. 

Junqueras run as candidate in the Catalan election last December, but the Spanish justice does not allow him to attend the plenary session and he votes through a delegate. 

In fact, the Spanish Supreme Court said that Junqueras and all the other MPs prosecuted for rebellion must be suspended from Parliament.

In recent weeks, Junqueras and other jailed leaders were visited by a group of MEPs from a cross-party platform. The MEPs urged for their immediate release.

One of Junquera's closest allies, former Foreign Affairs minister Raül Romeva, who is also in jail, was an MEP in Brussels for 10 years.