Activist Cuixart’s lawyer cites international law to defend peaceful resistance

  • Marina Roig appeals to the right to freedom of assembly to refute rebellion charges for leading demonstrations

VilaWeb
VilaWeb / Catalan News Agency
12.06.2019 - 08:44
Actualització: 12.06.2019 - 10:44

The Catalan trial is set to come to an end on Wednesday, with the defense lawyers concluding their closing arguments and the defendants making their final statements. The first to speak before the Supreme Court in Madrid was Marina Roig, activist Jordi Cuixart’s lawyer, who appealed to international law in order to refute the rebellion charges against her client.

Roig brought up the request by the United Nations to “immediately” release the imprisoned leaders, and also the defense of “peaceful resistance” in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in referring to the demonstrations ahead of the 2017 referendum and the independence vote itself.

The lawyer also appealed to the right to freedom of assembly, enshrined in Spain’s Constitution. “There is no democracy without democracy, and there is no democracy without citizen participation,” she said.

Bias and exaggeration

On Tuesday, the defense of former vice president Oriol Junqueras and former foreign minister Raül Romeva accused the public prosecutor of “bias and exaggeration.”

The lawyer of also former ministers Jordi Turull and Josep Rull, along with activist Jordi Sànchez, said the events for which they are accused of rebellion were “protests” and not “uprisings.”

The defense of the former home affairs minister Joaquim Forn also took the stand on Tuesday to point out that the declaration of independence was never implemented.

Recomanem

La premsa lliure no la paga el govern. La paguem els lectors.

Fes-te de VilaWeb, fem-nos lliures.

Fer-me'n subscriptor
des de 75€ l'any