Geneve Mayor: "Spain treats pro-independence MPs like Erdogan treats the Kurds"

The mayor of Geneva, Rémy Pagani, has offered his city and all of Switzerland to act as mediators between Catalonia and Spain and find a political solution to the Catalan issue. Pagani, member of the left-wing Ensemble à Gauche party, had a meeting two weeks ago with the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent, to offer his commitment to the Catalan cause, and has defended Catalonia's right to self-determination on several occasions. Interviewed by El Nacional, the mayor of the Swiss city is highly critical of the Spanish state's repression and calls on Europe to intervene in the conflict.

What do you think of the presence of pro-independence leaders in Switzerland?
It is not normal. The first thing is to admit that there is an underlying problem: of political freedom and freedom of expression. The Spanish Government and the legitimate Catalan authorities, like Mr Torrent, have to sit around a table and deal with the question of the people who are being pursued. The case that it is probably the most inadmissible is that of the Jordis [Sànchez and Cuixart, pro-independence civil group leaders]. Spain treats the pro-independence MPs like Erdogan treats the Kurds. This is not admissible in a European democracy.
Is it comparable to the situation of the Kurds in Turkey?
Totally. There are Kurdish deputies in prison, they have been deprived of their parliamentary protection and of their rights... A state that calls itself a democracy has to protect all those who decide to take part in politics, and especially those that enter parliament. They did not decide to give up their seats. Therefore, they have to be protected.