Catalan pro-independence organization in exile, the Council for the Republic, has made three demands this Saturday in response to last Monday's Supreme Court sentences and the protests that have followed. The Council sums them up in three points: peace, freedom and self-determination." In a statement obtained by ElNacional.cat, the Council demands "peace", through the withdrawal of the Spanish police and security forces and asks for the Catalan Mossos' police action to be investigated as well. It also calls for the "amnesty" of the political prisoners, as well as the dropping "of all cases against the independence movement and the free return of the exiles." With regard to the third point, the Belgium-based Council asks for a "self-determination referendum" organized by the Catalan government "with the agreement of the Spanish government" and "supervised by international institutions and organizations."
In the text, the Council demands that "the police violence against the citizens of Catalonia be investigated thoroughly and those responsible must be held to account", as well as actions "with respect to media professionals, which seek to compromise the right to freedom of information". In addition, with reference to the Mossos d'Esquadra police, the Council also requests that the Catalan force "acts according to the parameters that correspond to a democratic police force, as it did on 1st October 2017, with scrupulous respect for the rights of citizens, in accordance with the recommendations made public by the Catalan Ombudsman."
Regarding the referendum, the Council's statement asks that it should be "organized by the government of Catalonia with the agreement of the Spanish government and supervised by international authorities in order to validate the self-determination referendum of 1st October 2017." The document asserts that "there are states, which may be European or not, and international institutions and organizations which could act as validators of the result, which, if in favour [of independence], must lead to the immediate proclamation of the Republic."
Finally, the statement supports the protest mobilizations in Catalonia and encourages "all democrats to stay mobilized and perservere, from non-violent action," to achieve these goals.