Parliament president vows to defend jailed MPs 'until the end'

The president of the Catalan parliament, Roger Torrent, pledged to defend MPs’ rights “until the end”. Torrent visited on Thursday the deposed vice president, Oriol Junqueras, and the home affairs minister, Joaquim Forn, in prison. He travelled to Madrid to meet with both Catalan leaders who have been incarcerated since November last year. 

Throughout the day he will also visit the pro-independence grassroots leaders Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, in prison since October 16. Jordi Sànchez was denied freedom once again on Tuesday by the Spanish judge overseeing the independence case. After the meeting, Torrent pledged to defend their political rights “until the end”, as well as to work towards their ultimate freedom. “Prison will not incarcerate the ideas that they represent,” he said.