Columns of independence supporters of Catalonia are sent from various cities to Barcelona to arrive there on Friday and take part in a general strike organized after the sentences handed down by Catalan politicians in connection with their involvement in the illegal independence referendum in 2017, various social networks reported.
The march footage is also broadcast on 24 Horas.
In total, five columns go to the Catalan capital – from Girona (according to law enforcement agencies, there are about ten thousand people), Vika, Bergi, Tarrega, Tarragona.
The so-called “Freedom March” is held at the initiative of the public organizations the Catalan National Assembly and the Omnium Cultural, whose leaders Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Quichard were sentenced by the Supreme Court to nine years of imprisonment due to involvement in the illegal independence referendum in 2017. The action was supported by the radical organization “Committees for the Defense of the Republic”.
In three days the columns will have to walk about a hundred kilometers. According to the organizers, the idea of the march was “inspired” by the “Salt Camp” in India by supporters of Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 and the “March to Washington” by Martin Luther King in 1963.
“The purpose of the march is a massive and non-violent response, to fill the streets again in defense of self-determination and freedom of political prisoners”, – the organizers said in a statement.
Organizers call political prisoners Catalan politicians sentenced by the Supreme Court to various terms of punishment – up to 13 years – for their participation in an illegal referendum on independence”.
Meanwhile, the radical organization “Republic Defense Committees” after new street riots in various cities of Catalonia called for continued “mobilization”. They also called on the Catalan generals and parties advocating independence to “disobey” and “break with the Spanish state” to form a “united front on the road to the republic.”
Due to the movement of the columns, three routes in the autonomous community were blocked.
Meanwhile, Catalan politicians sentenced by the Supreme Court have opposed violent acts that have been taking place in the autonomous community since Monday. “I fully support demonstrations and mass and peaceful marches. No violence represents us”, – wrote Oriol Junqueras, the former deputy chairman of the general government, sentenced to 13 years in prison. Other convicts made similar statements.
Students at various universities in the autonomous community began a three-day strike on Wednesday.
In Catalonia on Wednesday, protesters continue to block roads and rail links in several areas. Due to the vandals, high-speed trains on the Girona-Figueres route were stopped, the Renfe railway company said that repair work was completed and traffic would soon be restored.
Protests in Catalonia began on Monday after the Supreme Court sentenced Catalan politicians to their involvement in an illegal independence referendum in 2017. As a result of the riots, the epicenter of which was the airport of Barcelona, 131 protesters and about 70 law enforcement officers suffered on Monday. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday night, the center of Barcelona became the epicenter of the confrontation, where clashes with the police took place, the radicals built barricades and set them on fire. Clashes also occurred in Tarragona, Lleida and Girona. About 200 people were injured, including about 70 law enforcement officers.
