SPANISH POLICE ARREST CATALAN SEPARATISTS PLOTTING 'TERRORIST ACTS'
Prosecutors said
members of a pro-independence group were in "advanced preparation for
terrorist acts." If confirmed, it would mark a major shift in what has
been a largely peaceful Catalan nationalist movement. Spanish police on Monday
arrested nine members of a pro-Catalan independence group that prosecutors
charged with terrorism and rebellion for allegedly planning violent acts.
The raids targeted
several properties in the region as part of an investigation into the
Committees for the Defense of the Republic, a group promoting Catalonia's
independence from Spain, the Civil Guard police said. In the past, the group
organized street protests and blocked transportation. The Spanish High Court's
prosecutors said in a statement the raids were intended to collect evidence to
prove the group's "advanced preparation for terrorist acts in connection
with their secessionist aims."
They provided no
further information about the target or timing of the alleged attack plans, but
police said they seized computers, documents and materials that could be used
to make explosives. Catalonia's pro-independence regional president, Quim
Torra, criticized the arrests. "Repression continues to be the sole
response of the Spanish state," Torra tweeted. "They are trying to
construct a tale of violence prior to the sentences. They won't achieve it. The
independence movement is, and always will be, peaceful."
The Committees for the
Defense of the Republic denounced the detentions on Twitter and called for
protests in multiple towns, including Sabadell, where the arrests were made. The
raids come as large protests are expected in the coming weeks to mark the
two-year anniversary of the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. The
plebiscite was in favor of independence, but the government in Madrid called it
illegal.
Shortly after, a
verdict is expected in the trial against 12 pro-independence leaders that could
bring tens of thousands of angry supporters out onto the streets. Catalonia's
pro-independence movement has been mostly peaceful, unlike the Basque
separatist ETA that carried out years of violence until ending their fight in
2018.
Source: DW
News – 23 September 2019
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