Some 110,000 demonstrators took to streets in Barcelona on Saturday calling on authorities to halt the crackdown on politicians accused of having a role in the organization of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, the city police said.
The rally was organized by the Catalan National Assembly organization, Omnium Cultural association and the Catalan civil right association.
The demonstration was held under the slogan “No prison, no exile, we want you to be home.” The protesters called on the authorities to lift charges against those Catalan politicians who are in jail, and those who are fleeing from Spanish justice abroad.
Quim Torra, the head of the Catalan government, Roger Torrent, the regional parliament speaker, former government head Artur Mas and other politicians participated in the rally.
In March, the Spanish Supreme Court charged 25 Catalan politicians over their role in the organization of the independence referendum. While some politicians were jailed, others have fled abroad prompting Spanish authorities to issue international arrest warrants and extradition requests.
Earlier this week, a German court ruled that extradition of Catalan government former head Carles Puigdemont, under whose leadership the referendum was organized, was possible on the charges of misuse of public funds, brought against him by the Spanish authorities. However, the court did not authorize extradition on the charges of rebellion, also facing Puigdemont in Spain.
Puigdemont and his supporters said they would fight to prove the innocence of the Catalan politicians involved in the organization of the referendum.
During the October 1 referendum, over 90 percent of the Catalan voters supported the region’s secession from Spain. The Catalan parliament subsequently declared the region’s independence from Spain, prompting the central authorities to the regional authorities and invoke the direct administration over the region.