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A8 WORLD NEWS
Monday 17 deceMber 2018

Catalan separatists on hunger strike speak out

By ARITZ PARRA recently begun to issue
SANT JOAN DE VILATOR- some rulings in a series of
RADA, Spain (AP) — Sepa- appeals and says that it's
ratist politicians from Spain's working as fast as the judi-
Catalonia region who are cial calendar allows it to in
entering the third week of "dealing with the complex-
a prison hunger strike say ity of a case that affects
their upcoming rebellion tri- fundamental rights and a
al will give them a platform careful analysis of criminal
to peacefully promote the law." Central Spanish au-
cause of Catalan indepen- thorities see no reason for
dence. the hunger strike.
In rare interviews conduct- "Their arguments are false.
ed inside a prison north of They will have a fair trial be-
Barcelona, Jordi Sanchez cause in Spain the judiciary
and Jordi Turull repeated is independent," Prime Min-
their calls for dialogue be- ister Pedro Sanchez said
tween Catalonia's regional recently, adding that his
government and Spanish government rejects both
government authorities in taking politics to court and
Madrid. Turull has been in a "politicizing justice."
prison medical ward since Although Spain's system
Friday. of appointing top justices
Their trial, set to begin early In this undated photo provided by Catalan language association, showing jailed Catalan sepa- and prosecutors has been
ratist leaders posing for a photo inside Lledoners jail in Sant Joan de Vilatorrada, Spain, with left
next year, will be "a unique to right; Jordi Sanchez, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Cuixart, Josep Rull and questioned inside and out-
moment to denounce the Raul Romeva. side Spain, those who think
attitude of the Kingdom of Associated Press it's working list the numer-
Spain contrary to the politi- ous sentences against the
cal and democratic rights court orders by holding a movement. he shed over 13 pounds in country's political and eco-
in Catalonia," Sanchez told banned independence Catalonia's banned inde- two weeks. He said he tricks nomic elite. One such rul-
The Associated Press. referendum in October pendence, Spain's violent his body to ignore hunger ing earlier this year led to
"We are not going to let this 2017 and making an illegal crackdown to stop it and with nicotine. Mariano Rajoy's ousting as
opportunity go to waste," attempt to secede. a subsequent declara- Turull said his protest comes prime minister and brought
he added. Some of them have been tion of independence by with "a sense of responsibil- Sanchez to power.
The pair also rejected de- indicted on charges of re- Catalan authorities led to ity" and he is not looking to Sanchez, a Socialist, has
pictions of the secessionist bellion or sedition and face an unprecedented seven- starve to death. tried a conciliatory tone,
movement in the prosper- decades in prison in what month takeover by central "Its end depends on how but his approach has not
ous northeastern region as local media have dubbed authorities of the region of far our strength takes us reduced tensions with the
violent. "the trial of the century" 7.4 million people. and on achieving our Catalan separatists. Hard-
Sanchez wore three layers in Spain's Supreme Court. More than a year later, the goal of calling attention to ening rhetoric against the
of clothing even though A preliminary hearing is shockwaves are still being Spain's judicial problem," nationalists has spread
the heating in the prison scheduled for Tuesday, al- felt across Spain. A political the 52-year-old lawyer said. across Spain's political
managed by Catalan gov- though the defendants are divide is growing between Their aim is to press Spain's spectrum and coincided
ernment was working. The not expected to appear in Catalan and Spanish na- Constitutional Court to rule with the ascent of Vox, a
chill he feels results from not court until weeks later. tionalism, a development on appeals about their po- far-right party.
consuming calories, ac- Two more former Catalan that has fueled the mo- litical rights and their pro- Turull, a longtime secession-
cording to Sanchez's doc- Cabinet members joined mentum of a far-right pop- longed pre-trial jailing. The ist, says Spain's far right is
tor, who said the 54 year- the hunger strike Dec. 3, ulist party that recently won strikers think the court is dragging other parties to its
old has lost more than 5 ki- but other inmates from a a dozen seats in Andalusia's deliberately trying to block extremism and becoming
lograms (11 pounds) since competing separatist politi- regional parliament. them from reaching the "a machine of generating
he began fasting on Dec. cal group, including former Turull, a former candidate European Court of Human tensions" in Catalonia. He
1. Catalan Vice President Ori- to become the region's Rights in Strasbourg, where also says Sanchez should
Spain says the 22 defen- ol Junqueras, have chosen president, was sent to the they hope to expose the consider dialogue more
dants in the case are be- not to participate, expos- Lledoners prison infirmary judicial flaws they see at than ever, including on the
ing prosecuted not for ing different approaches Friday because his kidneys home. underlying issue of Catalan
their ideas but for defying within the independence have been affected after The Spanish top court has self-determination.q