The imprisonments are a ‘very serious attack on democracy,’ Puigdemont says

Dismissed president Carles Puigdemont said in a televised speech that the jailing of his government is a "coup against the December 21 elections,” referring to the upcoming snap elections called by the Spanish government. The imprisonments were also described by Puigdemont as “a very serious attack on democracy.”

According to Puigdemont, the jailing of Catalan ministers today shows that the upcoming December elections “will be developed in a climate of repression and imprisonment,” in what he described as an “unprecedented situation in 21st century Europe.” Puigdemont, as a “legitimate” president, he said, has demanded “the liberation of the ministers and the vice president” and the “end of political repression.”

He also warned Catalans that “a long and fierce repression awaits” and he stated that the “fury” of the Spanish government has become “runaway” and that it’s “threatening everything.” Puigdemont, for this reason, called for his audience “to fight it” the Catalan way, "without violence, with peace and with respect for all opinions and people.”