Staff Reporter
DOZENS of Catalan protesters took to 10 Downing Street during a UK visit from Mariano Rajoy yesterday.
The protest, organised by the Catalan Defence Committee,
demanded the release of the Catalan referendum leaders who remain in jail on charges of sedition and rebellion. Holding up placards saying ‘freedom for political prisoners’ and ‘the streets will always be ours’, the protesters amassed such a large crowd that traffic was diverted from Whitehall.
Rajoy was forced to enter number 10 through the back door. The turmoil comes after a Spanish supreme court judge ordered the release of six Catalan secessionists.
Puigdemont’s deputy Oriol Junqueras and Catalan ex-Interior Minister Joaquim Forn, however, must stay in jail.
Puigdemont has been given a lifeline after his European arrest warrant was withdrawn this week to allow Madrid full autonomy into the investigation of what they claim was an illegal independence referendum.
