Deposed Catalan ministers in Belgium call on citizens to vote “in mass” on December 21

A protest was called today in Brussels, Belgium to demand the immediate release of the deposed Catalan ministers and civil society leaders held in custody in the Madrid area. The demonstration was attended by around a thousand protesters, including three of the dismissed ministers themselves: minister of Government Meritxell Serret, minister of Health Toni Comín and minister of Education Clara Ponsatí, along with ERC MEP Josep Maria Terricabras.

Part of the dismissed Catalan ministers currently exiled in Belgium (including ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont), Serret, Comín, and Ponsatí called on Catalans to participate “in mass” in the upcoming December 21 elections. This, the deposed ministers assured, would serve to “restore democracy.”

The demonstration was called by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) in support of the incarcerated ministers and civil society leaders, including the ANC’s own president, Jordi Sànchez, as well as the president of organization Òmnium Cultural and the remaining deposed minister’s own colleagues. There has also been a protest called for December 7 in the Belgian capital by the same civil society entity.