Torrent urges ‘creating a unitary front in defense of democracy and fundamental rights’

The speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent, urged today for all political parties to "create a unitary front in defense of democracy and fundamental rights." In a statement during an institutional event with relatives and friends of jailed and exiled Catalan politicians, Torrent said the decision yesterday to jail five Catalan MPs –including presidential candidate Jordi Turull and the former Parliament speaker Carme Forcadell - is "an attack to the heart of democracy."

Torrent said as such standing alongside MPs from pro-independence parties JxCat, ERC and CUP and the left-wing Catalunya-En Comú, which is not in favor of a separate state but accepts the idea of a referendum.

"We have a parliament that’s under siege by the courts. We are not allowed to exercise our functions, including the main one, electing a Catalan president," he said, adding “They have suspended democracy. Enough!" He insisted, “We will only be able to regain democracy by uniting all democrats”