Two CUP party members released after appearing in court

Two Reus town councilors, Oriol Ciurana and Marta Llorens, were released after appearing in court. Ciurana and Llorens, both CUP party members, exercised their right not to testify and didn’t respond to any questions. They are under investigation, charged with inciting hatred against Spanish police after state security forces used violence to crack down on voters during the October 1st referendum on Catalan independence.

The councilors were arrested by Catalan police for failing to appear in court to testify over their role in the independence referendum on October 1. They were released after 19 hours in police custody; the only purpose of the arrest was to bring them before the court.

Protests in front of the court

People gathered in front of the court in Reus to support the two councilors and to protest their arrest. Demonstrators demanded “freedom for political prisoners”. 

In Reus, the mayor of the city, as well as other members of the city council were also summoned to testify over their role in the October 1 referendum.