Read in Catalan

"We've stopped that assault, but we haven't solved the problem." That was the frank expression used this Saturday by Ernest Benach, vice president of the association promoting the Catalan "Solidarity Fund", to describe the situation of property seizures currently faced by a group of 17 senior Catalan government officials under investigation for alleged offences connected to the 2017 independence referendum. So far, 5.1 million euros of the 5.8 million euro deposit demanded by Barcelona court number 13 has been paid, but the remaining sum of 700,000 euros has been covered by court seizure of properties belonging to the accused. The Fund has thus made a new appeal to the public for donations so that the embargo on these properties can be lifted.

But the threat doesn't end there. Much more must be done, according to the fund's spokespeople, "to respond to all the aggressions that are taking place and the repression that people are suffering". In this regard, Benach says that many of the demands for help the fund receives are from individuals who have no political or institutional responsibility and are not part of any political party; through the charges related to the 1st October 2017 referendum, accusations and cases are being laid which are currently alive in the courts. For this reason, he said, not only the present sum of 700,000 euros was needed to reverse the seizure of defendants' property, but they also had to keep going because "this is not finishing".

Translation:
"We denounce the Spanish state's systematic violation of the political rights of the people of Catalonia.
We've stopped the assault. But of the €5.8 million bond, an amount of 700,000 euros has been covered by property seizures."— Caixa de Solidaritat." 

Benach underlined that "there are still people having funds removed from their current savings accounts as well as specific properties seized, and the goal is to solve this permanently." He called for "assistance from all the good people in this country".

Meanwhile, the vice-president of the pro-independence Òmnium Cultural group, Marcel Mauri, said that Spain continues to undermine fundamental rights and gave the example of Friday's "shameless" suspension of parliamentary deputies who "represent more than one and a half million votes, changing the majorities in Congress". As well as calling on people to "keep filling up" the fund, Mauri demanded a "massive response at [Sunday's] polls in the face of the new attacks being made by the state."

From the ANC, the other major pro-independence civil group, president Elisenda Paluzie stated that what is happening in Barcelona's court 13, involving a monetary deposit to cover civil liability, is "a flagrant example of breaching fundamental rights. We are in a terrain where the right to a fair trial is being denied and judicial guarantees are lacking."

Núria de Gispert, president of the Solidarity Fund association, also made a strong criticism of Spanish justice. "In less than 10 years, Spanish justice has fallen to the bottom of the rankings and is now at the level of Turkey; it can't be compared to the UK, Germany and France." The suspension of the four pro-independence prisoners from the Spanish Congress "is shameful", she said.

In the two years since the Solidarity Fund was created, it has raised 12 million euros.