Show Trials

During the Franco dictatorship in Spain, thousands of people were condemned to death. In the period 1939-44, almost 3,000 people were executed after military show trials. All sorts of people - local mayors, activists and, infamously, Las Trece Rosas ("Thirteen Roses"), a group of young women who were executed on 5th August 1939.

The show trials continued throughout the Franco period, until in December 1970, the dictatorship organised a show trial against the 'Burgos 16', a group accused of supporting ETA and, specifically, of murdering a police commissioner, Meliton Manzanas.

As Michael von Tangen showed in "Prisons, Peace and Terrorism",

...the intention of the trial had been to prove to the Spanish people and the international community that the insurgents were dangerous terrorists with no popular support. Instead, the trial became an international show-case in which the prisoners and their defence lawyers were able to denounce their treatment and the treatment that the Basque and Spanish populations suffered under Franco. This portrayal was disastrous for the regime, as Franco wanted to portray his state as ...increasingly liberal..and a suitable candidate to join the European Economic Community.

Show Trials, Opening Soon

But it seems that the Spanish state has forgotten this lesson from history. Because it is increasingly apparent that the trials of the Catalan political prisoners will be exactly the same; show trials designed to show that the "insurgents were dangerous terrorists with no popular support."

Today we have news that leading Spanish judges have been using an internet discussion group to call pro-independence leaders 'Nazis', 'bacteria' and 'virus' and to accuse them of sedition. Judges, in other words, showing how biassed they are going to be in the forthcoming trials of the political prisoners.

President of the Generalitat Quim Torra has demanded the resignation of the chair of the General Council of the Judiciary, the body that governs the courts and judges in Spain.

President Torra is reported as having said that:

the limited confidence that remains in Spanish justice has definitely been shattered today.

The political prisoners face trials, starting in November, on charges of violent revolution and sedition. If found guilty they will face sentences of up to 30 years. 

For some of the prisoners, 30 years means that they could die in prison. Under the Franco regime they would have been shot, like the Thirteen Roses, after a similar show trial. 

It's hard to spot the difference.




Source: Prisons, Peace and Terrorism: Penal Policy in the Reduction of Political Violence in Northern Ireland, Italy and the Spanish Basque Country, 1968-97, Michael von Tangen, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1998

Why are the Two Jordis in Prison?

The 'two Jordis' - Jordi Cuixart, president of Òmnium Cultural and Jordi Sànchez, president of the ANC - have been locked up for more than nine months. They have not yet faced trial, and are unlikely to get a trial until early in 2019. 

But why are they in prison? They are accused of violent rebellion, and sedition, along with other crimes. But a recent documentary, from Mediapro in Barcelona, exposes the falsehoods, and hints at a conspiracy by the Spanish Government, all designed to entrap the Jordis.

The critical date is 20th September 2017. Like thousands of others, I was heading to work when I saw on social media that the Spanish militarised police, the Guardia Civil, had entered the Catalan Government's Economy Ministry. Like thousands of others I was horrified that the Spanish government would send its armed police into a Catalan government ministry. And like thousands of others, I headed straight there. The demonstration was, like all of the indy demos here, peaceful, funny, full of music, songs, cheering. The staff in the ministry kept us hydrated by sharing out water bottles from a first floor balcony. The demo grew during the day - I saw old people, young people, office staff in suits and ties and folk who had come from building sites.

But, as the documentary makes clear, the police were drawing us all into a trap. They did so by leaving unguarded guns in their police cars, by claiming that people were forcing their way into the ministry (they were not), by delaying their departure in a futile attempt at angering the crowd, and by threatening to invade the offices of the CUP, one of the pro-independence political parties. They entrapped the Jordis, and then twisted the story and the images to make it appear as though the Jordis were involved in a 'violent' uprising.

Eventually, when these cases get to the European Court of Justice, the nine political prisoners will be released. But by then five, six or more years will have passed (the European Court moves very slowly).

So please, act now. Write to your MP, your MSP, your MEP and to the Spanish Ambassador to demand freedom for the nine political prisoners held by Spain, and liberty for those forced to live in exile.

Imagine (imagineu-vos)

Before you read another word, sentence, STOP! GOOGLE the word ‘imagine’.

You, if like me will see the image of a YouTube video with the face of John Lennon and a link to the emblematic song ‘Imagine’.

A song of hope. A utopia. Naively idealistic, but at the very least a signpost to the path of a better future.

Some FORTY SEVEN years later I read, ‘Tanqueu els ulls i imagineu-vos…..’ ‘Close your eyes and imagine….’.

https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/tanqueu-els-ulls-i-imagineu-vos-el-conte-de-montse-bassa-sobre-la-vida-a-alcala-meco/
‘Close your eyes and imagine..,’ the first few words of the account published in Vilaweb written by Montse Bassa about her sister Dolors Bassa, the Catalan political prisoner, now held indefinitely since 23 March in Alcalà de Henares prison, Spain.

Montse Bassa describes how Dolors Bassa is held in a cell 16 hours a day. Rudimentary furniture. A toilet with no lid. Shower. Iron framed bed. Wooden bench for a seat. Grey walls with an iron door. A window with a view to a barbed wire wall.

Access to the library is limited. A monotonous diet. The humiliation of how water and toilet paper are obtained.

The pain and emotion of those rare moments of family visits…through glass and by way of a dodgy microphone.

Resolve is found in thoughts of freedom and the injustice Dolors Bassa and the other political prisoners have to bear. Dolors finds strength in the support of the Catalan people. Dolors sleeps with thoughts of home. Montgrì.

THIS IS NOT THE ‘IMAGINE’ JOHN LENNON HAD IN MIND.

Catalan President visits Prisoners

The Catalan President, Quim Torra, has today visited Estremera Prison, where he visited Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Joaquim Forn, Josep Rull and Raül Romeva. He went on to visit Carme Forcadell and Dolors Bassa, in the Alcalá de Henares prison, near Madrid.

Two of the political prisoners, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull, have been selected as ministers ('Consellers') in the new Catalan government. Vilaweb reports that Jordi Turull said:

Honorats de rebre la visita del MHP @QuimTorraiPla. Ho hem fet amb la màxima dignitat, amb vestit formal i la insígnia de consellers. Tenim els nostres drets polítics intactes i demanem la nostra llibertat per exercir la responsabilitat que ens ha encomanat i que acceptem pic.twitter.com/rrffTaiFaS

— Jordi Turull i Negre (@jorditurull) May 21, 2018

The tweet says: "Honoured to receive the visit from President @QuimTorraiPla. The visit was made with dignity, in formal attire and the insignia of ministers. Our political rights are intact, and we demand the freedom to exercise the responsibility that has been given to us, and which we accept."

Spanish President M. Rajoy has delayed the official publication of the names of ministers in the new government. This means that the Generalitat remains under the control of Madrid, under section 155 of the Spanish Constitution.


You can help! Find out how, here.

Who we are

We are people who have chosen to make our homes, lives and families here in Catalonia and who have no democratic rights other than those of being European citizens.

This blog is our protest against the imprisonment and forced exile of politicians and protestors from Catalonia. Imprisonment and exile are a direct challenge to democracy and freedom of speech.

We want :

1. The immediate release and absolution of all of the political prisoners in Spain
2. Guaranteed safety, security and freedom for people here who wish to vote
3. Freedom of expression and of speech, in the media and in culture