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PROTESTS

Catalan separatists slammed over ‘totalitarian’ attitude

Spain's Catalan foreign minister on Tuesday accused separatists of acting in a "totalitarian" way by excluding those in the region who were not in favour of breaking away from Spain.

Catalan separatists slammed over 'totalitarian' attitude
Protesters face police as they blockade a road outside Barcelona's El Prat airport. Photo: AFP

“The root of the problem is that the independence movement is ignoring the Catalan identity of those who are not pro-secession,” Josep Borrell, the European Union's incoming foreign policy chief, told journalists in Madrid.

“When you exclude one part, it becomes a totalitarian act.”   

Borrell was speaking a day after Spain's Supreme Court sentenced nine separatist leaders from Catalonia to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid.

The ruling triggered protests across the wealthy northeastern region that sometimes turned violent.

WATCH: Police clash with protesters at Barcelona's El Prat airport

 

The head of Catalonia's separatist regional government, Quim Torra, said the verdict showed “contempt for Catalan society” which “will know how to respond to this ingominy in the way that it always has, with determination and firmness.”   

But Borrell said not all Catalans felt the same way about the verdict.   

“When I hear people say that the Catalan people think like Torra does, my reaction is: hey, I'm Catalan and I don't think like you. You cannot say all Catalans think like me,” he said.

“To repeat over and over that the Catalans feel affected by the sentence – well, no.”

Polls show Catalonia, which is home to some 7.5 million people and accounts for about one fifth of the Spanish economy, is divided on the issue of independence.

A survey released in July by the Catalan's government's own polling firm showed 48.3 percent of Catalans oppose secession while 44 percent are in favour.

Catalan separatists on Tuesday blocked streets and train tracks in protest against Spain's jailing of nine of their leaders, a day after activists stormed Barcelona airport in an angry response to the verdict.

Pro-independence groups called for demonstrators to hold sit-ins from 7 pm (1700 GMT) outside of Spanish government offices in Barcelona and other Catalan cities as part of Tuesday's protests.

Several roads were cut across the northeastern region, including the AP-7 which links Barcelona to France near the separatist stronghold of Girona, local officials said.

Demonstrators also blocked train tracks with burning tyres and other debris as they awaited new instructions from Democratic Tsunami, the group which coordinated Monday's mass bid to swarm the city's El Prat airport, where they choked-off road and rail access.

In the coming days, protesters are planning to stage marches from five Catalan towns towards Barcelona where they will gather on Friday, when unions have called a general strike. Students are also planning to rally in Madrid on Wednesday.
 
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PROTESTS

Clashes mar rally against far right in north-west France

Riot police clashed with demonstrators in the north-western French city of Rennes on Thursday in the latest rally against the rise of the far-right ahead of a national election this month.

Clashes mar rally against far right in north-west France

The rally ended after dozens of young demonstrators threw bottles and other projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas.

The regional prefecture said seven arrests were made among about 80 people who took positions in front of the march through the city centre.

The rally was called by unions opposed to Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National party (RN), which is tipped to make major gains in France’s looming legislative elections. The first round of voting is on June 30.

“We express our absolute opposition to reactionary, racist and anti-Semitic ideas and to those who carry them. There is historically a blood division between them and us,” Fabrice Le Restif, regional head of the FO union, one of the organisers of the rally, told AFP.

Political tensions have been heightened by the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb, for which two 13-year-old boys have been charged. The RN has been among political parties to condemn the assault.

Several hundred people protested against anti-Semitism and ‘rape culture’ in Paris in the latest reaction.

Dominique Sopo, president of anti-racist group SOS Racisme, said it was “an anti-Semitic crime that chills our blood”.

Hundreds had already protested on Wednesday in Paris and Lyon amid widespread outrage over the assault.

The girl told police three boys aged between 12 and 13 approached her in a park near her home in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie on Saturday, police sources said.

She was dragged into a shed where the suspects beat and raped her, “while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks”, one police source told AFP.

France has the largest Jewish community of any country outside Israel and the United States.

At Thursday’s protest, Arie Alimi, a lawyer known for tackling police brutality and vice-president of the French Human Rights League, said voters had to prevent the far-right from seizing power and “installing a racist, anti-Semitic and sexist policy”.

But he also said he was sad to hear, “anti-Semitic remarks from a part of those who say they are on the left”.

President Emmanuel Macron called the elections after the far-right thrashed his centrist alliance in European Union polls. The far-right and left-wing groups have accused each other of being anti-Semitic.

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