The Popular Party has responded in a gallery, published today by the French newspaper Le monde, to the 52 deputies of the National Assembly of France who defended the Catalan independentistas judged by the Supreme Court on September 1 in You Journal of Dimanche. In the rostrum, the PP shows the "outrage" produced by the "accusations so serious and unfounded" they made.
The 148 popular parliamentarians remember that "the independence leaders have not been judged by their opinions, but because they have attacked our fundamental laws, violating the rights and freedoms of millions of Spaniards, and especially of the citizens of Catalonia." In addition, they defend that “Spanish democracy enjoys such a high quality as French, according to all international organizations”.
The text is signed by the president of the Party, Pablo Casado, and by his spokesmen in Congress, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo; in the Senate, Javier Maroto, and in the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat; as well as by all the deputies, senators and europarliamentarians of the PP.
The full text of the translated article is attached below:
Pablo Casado, president of the Spanish Popular Party; Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, spokesman for the Congress; Javier Maroto, spokesman in the Senate; Dolors Montserrat, spokesman in the European Parliament, and a total of 66 deputies, 70 senators and 12 MEPs of the PP respond to the 52 deputies of the National Assembly who have defended the Catalan independence officials judged by the Supreme Court.
On September 1, 52 French deputies published in a French newspaper a stand in defense of the Catalan independence leaders judged by the Spanish Supreme Court. In this forum, the French deputies accused Spanish democracy and our institutions of undermining fundamental rights and freedoms, of repressing and taking arbitrary measures. We wish to express in this writing the indignation that these very serious and unfounded accusations produce.
We want to remind the signatories of that writing that Spanish democracy enjoys such a high quality as French, according to all international organizations; For example, Freedom House, which in its latest report on freedom in the world (2019), gives a score of 94 out of 100 to Spain, one of the highest in the world. Our country has one of the most decentralized systems in the world, with power divided between central and autonomous institutions; unlike France, which has a more centralized political model.
But, above all, we want to point out that the independence leaders have not been judged by their opinions, but because they have attacked our fundamental laws, violating the rights and freedoms of millions of Spaniards, and especially of the citizens of Catalonia. The Spanish Supreme Court does not judge the political debate on independence, a debate that on the other hand can be conducted freely in our country, but the breaking of our laws and our Constitution.
The Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Spain has concluded that the defendants committed a crime of rebellion and requested significant prison sentences, because it has been shown that violence was used in the context of a planned and organized strategy to fracture our constitutional order, including the holding of an illegal referendum and a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan autonomous authorities.
If, for example, the nationalist leaders who currently constitute the majority in the regional institutions of Corsica organized an illegal referendum on the independence of Corsica and unilaterally proclaimed independence, breaking the Constitution, and in particular their first article on the "indivisible Republic" , the French courts and all institutions would no doubt react with the same firmness in defense of their democratic rules, their Constitution and the unity of France. If this happened, we would be without hesitation on the side of France, to defend its democracy, its Constitution and its unity, with the same conviction with which we are currently defending Spanish democracy, our Constitution and the unity of our country.