Jordi Cuixart, Catalan civical activist jailed by Spain: "It would be absurd to put prison and threats of violence from the state as a limit"

Jordi Cuixart has been in prison for nearly a year. He is the president of Òmnium Cultural, an organization that promotes Catalan language and culture. He has never been involved in political parties. As preparations for the independence referendum got underway, despite the former Spanish government's refusal to accept it as legal, the president of Òmnium tried to rally up all those in favour of breaking away from Spain and forming a Catalan Republic.

Speaking on Sunday from the Spanish jail in Lledoners, Cuixart said that the ongoing Catalan independence movement must assume that there will be more imprisonments. "It would be absurd to put prison and threats of violence from the state as a limit. There needs to be a motive of collective self-esteem, of people in Catalonia ready to go to prison to defend democracy in the 21st century."

Cuixart asserted that the "pro-independence movement is peaceful, and repression cannot stop the struggle for democracy and freedom." "It is important to note that, beyond gestures and words, the repression continues to exist," he remarked."There are nine of us political prisoners locked up, seven people in exili, the gag law is still in force," he said. "For now, apart from good words, we haven't seen anything."