CATALONIA
ON August 13, 1940, Lluis Companys, the exiled president of the Catalan Republic, was arrested
in occupied France by German security forces, on a warrant issued by
the Francoist government in Madrid. Companys was deported to Spain where
he was tortured, then put on trial (for a whole hour) on charges of
“rebellion”.
He was shot by firing squad, the highest-ranking, incumbent elected
politician executed during the Second World War. To this day, no Spanish
government has annulled this iniquitous verdict or any others of a
similar nature, far less put any Francoist on trial.
Yesterday, the exiled, deposed president of Catalonia, Carles
Puigdemont, was arrested by German security forces, on a European
warrant issued by the neo-Francoist Popular Party government in Madrid.
Like Companys before him, Puigdemont is (literally) charged with “rebellion”, for organising a democratic referendum on Catalan independence last October.
The only violence that occurred during that referendum was perpetrated
by the Spanish Guardia Civil when it attacked polling stations and
battoned old ladies to the ground.
Of course, Puigdemont won’t be shot but the parallels between 1940 and
2018 are not lost on ordinary Catalans – even those who voted No last
October. For the political regime in Madrid is nowhere near as
democratic as it pretends.
