'This is about rights and freedoms,' says speaker

“An authoritarian State will never deserve to govern a free people.” These were the words read by Jordi Sànchez’s son, Oriol Sànchez, from a text that the jailed MP sent from a prison in the Madrid region and that was read at the end of the massive demonstration in Barcelona on Aptil 15. In the Catalan capital, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to demand the release of those in prison, including Sànchez himself, as well as the return of those abroad. “Do you think that those who don’t respect the result of elections deserve to govern us?” further asked Oriol Sànchez, reading from his father’s text, questioning “Do you think those who violate our civil rights deserve to govern us?” Jordi Sànchez further called on his audience to not let themselves be “intimidated.” “Never give in to blackmail of fear, nor to violence,” Sànchez urged. “Today we once more show the ability of the Catalan people to come together in moments that are difficult, unjust, but also with hope.”

The response from those missing

The deposed president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, currently free on bail in Germany while waiting for the local judiciary to make a final decision on a European Arrest Warrant issued against him by Spain, also made a statement about the demonstration. In a message in English and German, he expressed that the protest held in Barcelona was “democratic and civic.” “Catalonia is asking for freedom,” he stated, adding that “we are European citizens who just want to live peacefully, freely and without fear,” in a message on his Twitter account. Deposed minister Raül Romeva, currently in prison in the Madrid region, sent out a message on the same social media platform stating that he was “impressed,” adding that he believes it necessary to take to the streets not only to demand the freedom of prisoners such as himself, but also the freedom of citizens.

Belonging to Romeva’s same pro-independence party, ERC, the secretary general Marta Rovira (currently in Switzerland), stated that she feels as if she’s in Barcelona, despite the distance. “As always,” she praised, “the call is clear, peaceful, and massive,” she summarized. Deposed government official Meritxell Serret, at the moment in Belgium facing extadition, also affirmed that “today, we are many in Barcelona, despite the distance, with a clear head and a tranquil heart, to peacefully cry out, again, that democracy always wins.”