Seventeen MEPs to visit Catalan leaders in prison

Seventeen MEPs from five different European Parliament parties are to visit imprisoned Catalan leaders in the coming weeks. The group includes members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the Greens-European Free Alliance group (Greens-EFA), and the European United Left - Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL).

There are currently ten Catalan leaders preemptively jailed in Madrid for their role in Catalonia’s push for independence, including eight ministers who were dismissed by the Spanish government and two civil society leaders who have been held behind bars since October 16.

The list of MEPs who will visit the jailed leaders includes Martina Anderson, Izaskun Bilbao, José Bové, Mark Demesmaeker, Jill Evans, Eleonora Forenza, Josu Juaristi, Lídia Senra Rodríguez, Igor Soltes, Bast Staes, Indrek Tarand, Marie-Pierre Vieu and Tatjana Zdanoka. Additionally, Ana Gomes, an S&D MP, told ACN that she will visit the imprisoned leaders as well.

The visit is organized by Platform for Dialogue EU-Catalonia, created recently with the aim of solving the “differences” between the Spanish government and pro-independence leaders through “peaceful dialogue”.

The visit will include Catalan MEPs too, such as Ramon Tremosa (ALDE), and Josep-Maria Terricabras and Jordi Solé (Greens-EFA). Indeed, among the imprisoned ministers there are former MEPs, such as vice president Oriol Junqueras and the Foreign Affairs minister Raül Romeva.