Several thousand people (some 4,500, according to the Urban Police and more than 10,000, according to the organizers) have participated this Tuesday, Constitution Day, in Barcelona in the demonstration called by the Catalan National Assembly (ACN) against the reform of the Code Penal.
The demonstration was attended by important faces of Junts per Catalunya such as the president of the party, Laura Borras; The secretary general, Jordi Turull; the deputy in Congress Miriam Nogueras or the deputy in Parliament Joan Canadell.
They also participated in the rally deputies of the CUP and other entities: the Coordinator of the Lawyers of Catalonia, the Meridiana Resiste platform, the Defense Committees of the Republic (CDR) and the National Federation of Students of Catalonia.
Before the start of the demonstration, convened in Pla de Palau in the Catalan capital, members of the CDR burned a copy of the Spanish Constitution.
The column began to move shortly after noon and advanced along Paseo Colón, up Vía Laietana and ended up in Plaza Sant Jaume.
The concentrates, carrying independence flags and all kinds of symbols of the same sign, shouted slogans such as “Puigdemont, our president”, “we do not want to be a region of Spain” or “October 1, neither forget nor forgive”. The demonstration ended with shouts of “Government resignation” and accusations of “collaborationism” to the executive of Pere Aragonès.
“They have tried to deceive us and they have not succeeded. The State wants to increase the repression against us and it is doing so with the connivance of the Government. We are here to say that we do not want the reform of the Penal Code to be approved and to demand that no pro-independence party lend your support”, affirmed the president of the ANC, Dolors Feliu.
Independence
“We want any action by the Government to be directed towards achieving independence, not increasing the repression against us,” he added.
Feliu has insisted that the reform promoted by the Government to eliminate sedition from the Penal Code and reform the crime of public disorder is “a trap” for the independence movement: “If you want to repeal sedition, very well, you’ll find us there. But don’t do anything elsethat they do not take advantage of this reform to increase the repression through the back door”.
The new wording of the crime of disorders defended by the executive of Pedro Sánchez would punish with sentences of six months to three years in prison those who, “with the intention of violating public peace, obstruct public roads or occupy buildings causing a danger to the health and people’s lives.
“When they talk about occupying public roads or occupying buildings, they are creating a Penal Code to persecute us,” Feliu defended.
