MADRID: The spokeswoman for the Catalan republican left party ERC has reacted to a judge's decision to jail politicians, including ERC militant and ousted Vice President Oriol Junqueras, by calling on "democrats" to "come out and prevent this from happening in the midst of the 21st century."
"We won't give up, we won't fail, we will fight till the end, till the end," Marta Rovira said in emotional remarks that brought tears to her eyes while speaking to reporters. "Because we have all the right in the world to live in a country with more justice, dignity and freedom."
Marta Pascal, secretary general of ousted president Carles Puigdemont's PDeCAT party, criticized the judge's decision to jail a democratically chosen government "just because they wanted to offer a different future to their citizens."
She appealed for Catalans to respond in a "serene, tranquil, peaceful but forthright way, to tell the Spanish government that it's shameful to intervene in our institutions and our government."
The ousted president of Catalonia has reacted to the jailing of nine members of his former Cabinet, posting on Twitter that "the legitimate government of Catalonia has been jailed for its ideas."
Carles Puigdemont, the leader of the separatist government that Spanish authorities removed from office last week, was in Belgium on Thursday when a judge in Madrid jailed his colleagues.
He and four regional ministers ignored a summons to appear in court for questioning in a rebellion investigation stemming from Catalonia's declaration of independence. The nine officials who were jailed complied.
One of the nine has been granted bail, but the payment has not been posted.
Puigdemont tweeted the government's "furious clamor" had sent the officials to jail.
"The serene clamor of the Catalans is of freedom," he wrote, posting a photo of protesters in Barcelona.