Dismissed president Carles Puigdemont said in a
televised speech that the jailing of his government is a "coup against
the December 21 elections,” referring to the upcoming snap elections
called by the Spanish government. The imprisonments were also described
by Puigdemont as “a very serious attack on democracy.”
According to Puigdemont, the jailing of Catalan ministers today shows
that the upcoming December elections “will be developed in a climate of
repression and imprisonment,” in what he described as an “unprecedented
situation in 21st century Europe.” Puigdemont, as a “legitimate”
president, he said, has demanded “the liberation of the ministers and
the vice president” and the “end of political repression.”
He also warned Catalans that “a long and fierce repression awaits”
and he stated that the “fury” of the Spanish government has become
“runaway” and that it’s “threatening everything.” Puigdemont, for this
reason, called for his audience “to fight it” the Catalan way, "without
violence, with peace and with respect for all opinions and people.”
