· The President of the Government of Catalonia says that the reform of the crime of sedition “is an improvement for all those who have been repressed”
· Aragonès explained that the Catalan Government will “continue to persevere to make the amnesty possible” and to “extend agreements and build new ones that help to move forward”
The President of the Government of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, welcomed today the elimination of the crime of sedition. “We are taking a very important step towards putting an end to repression and beginning to build a resolution to the political conflict”, he affirmed.
Aragonès explained the agreement with the Spanish Government “to eliminate the main crime for which political prisoners were sentenced to 100 years in prison for organising the referendum on October 1, 2017. A necessary fact that represents an improvement for all the victims of reprisals, paving the way for the restoration of freedoms of those already sentenced”, he added.
The president's message defended the perseverance in the dialogue as “it is a clear sign that persevering in your goals brings results", he added. Aragonès also recalled that he will keep on working “with all his determination to broaden agreements and build new ones that help us to move forward as we are doing today". “The most important element is that the object of this negotiation is not the position of one political party or another, but rights and freedoms,” he emphasized.
At a press conference in the Gothic Gallery of the Palau de la Generalitat, Aragonès described the agreement as “a very important step towards achieving the goal of ending all forms of repression”, he said. Despite this, the Catalan President warned that "there is still a long way to go”.
Aragonès stressed that the existence of crime even today “represents a serious threat to rights and freedoms, to people committed to our country’s freedom, and that it does not comply with European and international standards, as the Council of Europe and United Nations bodies have reminded us”. Therefore, he said, “today we are taking a very important step. And there will be more to come. Because we remain committed to achieving the effects of amnesty".
The Catalan President emphasized that the Government will continue “using the democratic strength to achieve the dual goal of bringing an end to the repression and ensuring that the Catalan citizens can once again vote on the future of the country". Aragonès concluded that this milestone "must give us hope but, above all, collective energy, to move forward".