The president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, has assured today, on the first anniversary of Catalonia's declaration of independence - which took place on 27th October, 2017 - that the right to self-determination and the exercising of it, are a right of the people and will never be renounced. He recognized that it will not be easy, but warned that "going back is not an option". To achieve the goal, he said that "huge amounts of organization and intelligence" will be needed.
Torra, in the official statement made to mark the anniversary of the independence proclamation made by Catalonia's Parliament, affirmed that "the commitment to liberty, civil rights and democracy will never be a bargaining chip in any negotiation".
"The events of this year have not transpired as we wanted", the head of the Catalan government recognized, adding that "all the repressive weight of the Spanish state fell on the legitimate and democratic government of Catalonia". The Catalan government did not attempt to implement independence after having declared it, and the almost-simultaneous approval by the Spanish authorities of direct rule of Catalonia under article 155, made 27th October a bitter-sweet day.
Torra recalled the repression that was brought about by the application of article 155 and the actions of the Spanish state against the Catalan government, the leaders of pro-independence civic groups, and also against mayors, town councillors, activists, performers and hundreds of ordinary people for having contributed to making the referendum happen and for having expressed themselves. The Spanish state's "solution", said Torra - through direct rule under article 155 - did not turn out well, since in the elections on 21st December they "lost again". "A year ago today, an entire operation [155] was set in motion because they didn't like the mandate a people had given", stated the president.
The Supreme Court's verdict
Once again, the president declared that a hypothetical guilty verdict in the upcoming trial of the political prisoners would not be accepted but rather would be confronted with the determination, the force and the solidarity of the 1st and 3rd October - the day of the referendum and the subsequent 'national stoppage'. "It is a trial against the millions of Catalans who on 3rd October last year brought the country to a halt in rejection of violence and in defence of our civil, social and national rights. I will not accept any sentence that is not the complete absolution of those accused", he said.
The referendum court case is, according to Torra, a trial "of the entire people of Catalonia", directed against its three clear points of consensus: the desire for republicanism, the refusal to accept anti-democratic repression and the defence of the country's right to self-determination.
▶ institutional Declaration of the #president @QuimTorraiPla on the occasion of the first anniversary|birthday of the 27th October. pic.twitter.com/nXMqNttRpi — Government. Generality (@govern) 27 of October 2018
"Catalonia will never accept voting being made a crime, nor the organisation of a referendum being an offence pursued by the criminal code, and nor that Catalonia cannot decide its future freely and democratically, and ratify that decision in Parliament, just as was done on 27th October of last year," asserted the Catalan president.