By Will Caraccio
Despite claiming to be a nation ruled by democracy, where individual liberties are sacrosanct and unalienable, Spain’s recent actions against the Catalan people starkly contradict these assertions. On the heels of the 2017 Catalan referendum for independence, where Spanish police brutalized Catalan civilians for attempting to vote for their nation’s sovereignty, the Spanish Supreme Court has recently voted to nullify the position of the elected president of Catalonia, Quim Torra. While the Spanish government parades its reverence for freedom of speech, according to The Guardian, Torra was found “guilty of disobedience for displaying pro-independence symbols on public buildings” by the Spanish court.
How can a nation claim to respect the free expression of its citizens if it won’t allow the elected president of Catalonia to advocate his agenda? The appalling decision reflects a series of similarly authoritarian rulings made in recent years. Three years ago, former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was forced to flee Catalonia in fear of persecution, finding refuge in Belgium where he has resided ever since. Today, Spanish jails hold two Catalan political prisoners who have been sentenced to 11 years in jail for their efforts in the independence movement. In the history of the Catalan government, 10 of the last 12 elected presidents were either barred from office, exiled, imprisoned or killed. The details of Spain’s interference with the democratic process in order to secure its own interests paints a disturbing picture. Having reduced the Catalan will to a muffled whisper, what is to stop them from extinguishing the Catalan voice altogether?