'The Catalan elected representatives are targets of legal persecution,' says Catalan parliamentary speaker

Catalan Parliament Speaker Carme Forcadell complained that Catalan elected representatives are targets of legal persecution, in front of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) on July 9 in Luxembourg.

Forcadell accused the Spanish government of wanting the Catalan Parliament to “censor” legislative proposals from Catalan MPs and prohibiting debates at the plenary chamber. “These are demands that we refuse to comply with in order to preserve the parliament’s sovereignty, freedom of expression, freedom of ideas and the MPs’ right of initiative,” she said.

Along with four other members of the Parliamentary board who allowed the plenary chamber to adopt two resolutions in favour of the referendum on independence, Forcadell has been charged with perverting the course of justice and defying the Spanish Constitutional Court. Forcadell, who is currently being investigated by Catalonia’s High Court of Justice, said the situation is “unusual.”

Forcadell also referred to the rulings against former Catalan president Artur Mas and former ministers Joana Ortega, Irene Rigau, and Francesc Homs, who have been barred from holding public office for helping organize a non-binding vote on the issue of Catalan independence on 9 November 2016. “This is the Spanish government’s response to the majority of Catalan citizens, who want a referendum on independence to be held,” she said.