The aim of the Foreign Assemblies is to inform about the right to self-determination and to report violations of rights that Spain inflicts on political minorities such as Catalan people
Friday, 17th of October
The dozens of assemblies that the Catalan National Assembly has abroad have mobilized thousands of protesters around the world to denounce the abuse of rights in Catalonia by the Spanish Government. This past week, thousands of pro-Catalan independence protesters demonstrated in over 40 cities in 19 countries all over the world, against the Catalan Referendum Trial court sentences, which are condemning 9 Catalan political and social leaders to 9 to 13 years of jail and public ban from office. This represents an accumulate of 100 years in prison. Their crimes are a varying degree of sedition, misuse of funds and disobedience, all of which have not been proven true in court but have nevertheless gone through.
Both the court proceedings and the statements have raised international critiques, from international human and fundamental rights institutions such as such the United Nations, Amnesty International, International Trial Watch, the international human rights network EuroMed Rights, the International Federation of Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; to activists, jurists, members and parliamentary groups in France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Flanders, Portugal and Ireland.
Demonstration in London, 14th of October
Further mobilizations abroad
This weekend, the Assemblea foreign branches have called for several mobilizations abroad. Saturday will be the main day, with protest in Nice, Quimper, Rennes, Ajaccio, Berlin, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Tromso and Bologna. On Sunday, São Paulo and Brussels will have their own protest, and the latter is expected to be quite large, since it will gather protesters from the north of France and the BeNeLux area. The protests will continue next week, with actions in London on the 26th of October, the day when the biggest demonstrations are being called in Catalonia.
Mobilizations in Barcelona
The Assemblea Nacional Catalana has five huge marches, which started on Wednesday the 16th from different points in Catalonia, approximately a 100 km away from the Catalan capital. The protesters have been walking for two days, using main roads and highways, and will conclude tomorrow in Barcelona, where a General Strike has been called by the main unions. The activist platform “Tsunami Democràtic” has been coordinating daily protests and demonstrations, which have been often harassed and repressed by Spanish police forces. These actions, combined with others in the territory, aim to show the injustice taking place and the will of the Catalan people to exercise their Self-determination.