"How many human rights organizations is Pedro Sánchez willing to ignore?" This is the question asked by Marcel Mauri, vice-president of Catalan cultural society Òmnium, after the Spanish prime minister had his ears pulled today by another global organization working for fundamental rights. Specifically, the new condemnation of Spain came from the literary and human rights group PEN International, which included the cases of jailed Catalan pro-independence leaders Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, as well as that of the exiled Mallorcan rapper Valtònyc, in its list of violations of the rights of expression and protest in the last year.
In the report, the international body says that it sees the convictions of Sànchez and Cuixart for sedition as "excessive" and a "disproportionate restriction on their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly." It therefore calls for their "immediate release."
Cuixart, from prison, also reacted to the publication of the report and lamented that the Spanish state has "normalized the international denunciation of the repression" against the Catalan pro-independence movement.
Avui és el @pen_int qui denúncia que a l'Estat no s'hi respecten la llibertat d’expressió i el dret de manifestació i demana l'alliberament de Jordi Cuixart, Jordi Sànchez i Valtònyc. A quantes organitzacions de Drets Humans està disposat a ignorar Pedro Sánchez? https://t.co/vIRxAPExWA
— Marcel Mauri de los Rios (@marcelmauri) May 4, 2020