Estimated 1.5 Million Rally for Catalan Independence

Estimated 1.5 Million Rally for Catalan Independence

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BARCELONA, Spain – On Tuesday evening, an estimated 1.5 million people rallied in the Spanish city of Barcelona.  The rally protested Spanish tax laws asserted by the central government in Madrid.  Additionally, Catalonia seeks fiscal independence, a government bailout of tax debt, and political autonomy.

Catalan protesters hold a banner reading “Catalonia, New European State.” (Photo Courtesy of GlobalPost)

The independence rally, or march, is held annually on September 11 to coincide with National Day or Diada.  The date marks the end of the Siege of Barcelona 300 years ago during the War of Spanish succession.  This year’s peaceful rally aims to be the largest ever, drawing a crowd of some 1.5 million people from around Catalonia.

The marchers, already filling the designed route by the time the march began, carried pro-independence flags: the red and gold striped flag of Catalonia with the addition of a blue triangle and single white star, and banners with the motto “Catalonia, New European State.”

The independence movement had received limited support prior to the financial crisis.  However, polls Tuesday showed that 46.4% of Catalans support independence; double the figure in 2008 when the crisis began. However, not all Catalans offer their support.  Particularly, traditionally rural Spanish immigrants and people from other European states would be very unlikely to vote for independence.

Spurred by the financial crisis, many Catalans object to what they perceive as a disproportionately high tax contribution to the central government compared to what is returned.  Catalonia, in the north-east corner of Spain, is also Spain’s wealthiest region, representing a fifth of Spain’s economy.

In Spain, one in four people are unemployed and the economy has continued to decline for three consecutive quarters.  The Catalonia region is also struggling.  This year, it took out €13billion (£10bn, $16.6bn) in loans to refinance a maturing debt in addition to funding its deficit for the year.

A recent credit ratings downgrade has also shut Catalonia out of the debt market.  There is also concern that the Catalan government may have barely enough funds to pay its public sector employees.

In August, Catalonia requested a €5 billion (£4bn, $6.4bn) bailout from Madrid from an €18 billion emergency fund created to help regions pay off debts and suppliers of health care and other basic services.  It is believed that this is what the government owes Catalonia in overpaid taxes.

“It’s absurd that we are now having to ask the government in Madrid to lend us money that should have been ours to use in the first place,” said Luis Planagumà, a protestor from Santa Pau who traveled two hours by bus with a group of about 1,500 to join the rally.

Consequently, many Catalans want to see Catalonia gain greater fiscal autonomy from Madrid, and therefore reduce its tax contribution to the central system.  As seen from the rally Tuesday, many Catalans desire a further step as well: political autonomy.

Law student Laura Nuñez explained her confidence that political autonomy would improve the Catalan economy. “We’re economically the most powerful part of Spain, because of industry and tourism, and we contribute more than other Spanish regions,” she said. “We shouldn’t be subject to this internal discrimination.”

However, the Catalan CiU (Convergència i Unió) nationalist government may not be prepared for the idea of independence.  The CiU has governed Catalonia for 25 years, but has never pushed for autonomy.  Catalan President Artur Mas did not plan to participate in the rally.  A spokeswoman, Carme Forcadell, for the group behind the march, made clear that “[a]nyone who attends should understand that they will be considered pro-independence.”

President Mas did, however, support some of the demands of the marchers.  “Catalonia produces sufficient resources to live better than we live,” said Mas. “There is no more urgent battle or challenge than fiscal sovereignty, and now more than ever.”

However, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy opposes fiscal independence for Catalonia.  He claims that it would achieve nothing in Spain’s overall battle against economic collapse.  Instead, Rajoy places emphasis on employment: “This isn’t a moment for big gestures like this. What we need to do is create jobs.”

At a press conference following Tuesday’s rally, Mas expressed his pride in the Catalan people, but cautioned that the path to independence would not be an easy one.  As for financial independence, Mas explained that it is part of the process of autonomy.

Prime Minister Rajoy and Catalan President Mas are scheduled to meet on 20 September.  Although this meeting will likely not bring the people of Catalonia the independence they desire, Mas’ message to Rajoy and Spain is this: “Listen carefully to Catalunya and [offer] solutions.”

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Huge Turnout for Catalan Independence Rally – 11 September 2012

Global Post – Spain: Catalonia Independence Rally Draws More than a Million (PHOTOS) – September 2012

The Guardian – Catalan Independence Rally Brings Barcelona to a Standstill – 11 September 2012

International Herald Tribune – Protest Rally in Catalonia Adds a Worry for Spain – 11 September 2012

La Vanguardia – Mas: “Todo es Posible si hay Voluntad, Grandes Mayorías y Capacidad de Resistir” – 12 September 2012

Russian Court to Hear Negligence Indictment in Magnitsky Case

Press Release – Courtesy of  Hermitage Capital
For Immediate Distribution

13 September 2012 – Today at 11 am, the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow will begin hearings on the indictment of Dmitry Kratov, former deputy chief of Butyrka detention center for medical negligence.

Dmitry Kratov, the doctor at the Butyrka prison where Sergei Magnitsky was held. (Photo Courtesy of Kyiv Post)

Kratov’s indictment absolves him from any responsibility for the complicity in Magnitsky’s torture and murder. It is signed by Deputy General Prosecutor, Victor Grin, the same prosecutor who launched the unprecedented posthumous prosecution against Sergei Magnitsky last year. This is the first prosecution of a dead man in Russian history.

The negligence case will be heard by Judge Tatiana Neverova, the same judge who refused Sergei Magnitsky’s petition about the violation of his rights when he was still alive.

“Under this case, the investigators and prosecutors have legalised the knowingly false version of Magnitsky’s death in detention allegedly on medical grounds, due to heart failure and made-up diagnoses of sugar diabetes and hepatitis. This medical version masks the cruel retribution Magnitsky fell victim of for his role in defending his client, the Hermitage Fund, and in exposing the criminal scheme secretly functioning over several years through which billions of roubles had been siphoned from the budget,” said lawyer Nikolai Gorokhov, counsel to Magnitsky’s mother.

At the preliminary hearing that took place on 27 July 2012, the Magnitsky family lawyer requested the criminal case in relation to Kratov be returned to prosecutors for a full investigation of his role in the conspiracy to falsely imprison, torture and murder Sergei Magnitsky. The judge refused his petition on the grounds that no other co-conspirators have been identified in the  investigation into Magnitsky’s death.

Judge Neverova also refused all other applications from the family’s lawyer.

A year ago, Mrs Magnitskaya wrote to the Russian Investigative Committee naming a number of Russian officials for their complicity in the false arrest, torture and murder of her son (http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D275.pdf). The investigators have refused to open a probe into those officials named by Magnitsky’s mother and have fully exonerated them.

In November 2010, Sergei Magnitsky’s mother received the Global Integrity Award from Tansparency International on behalf of her late son honoring his fight against Russian government corruption.

 

For further information please contact:

Hermitage Capital
Phone:              +44 207 440 17 77
E-mail:              info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:           http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter:             @KatieFisher__
Livejournal:       http://hermitagecap.livejournal.com/

 

See a report on the Cover up of Magnitsky’s murder:

http://www.russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/P01RUS.pdf

Syrian Revolution Digest – Tuesday 12 September 2012

The Audacity of Dreams!

Syrian Revolution Digest – September 12, 2012 

As America mourns the loss of one decent man, Syrians are mourning the loss of thousands. Ambassador Christopher Stevens believed in our Dream, let’s hope his passing will not take away from that. Cynicism has laced the way international leaders dealt with the Syrian tragedy from the get-go, allowing the dream to turn into a nightmare. But only audacity can overcome adversity, not cynicism.  

Wednesday September 12, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 173. The Breakdown: 30 due to aerial bombing, 10 children and 6 women. 67 in Aleppo, 25 in Damascus and Suburbs, 20 in Daraa (including 12 unidentified bodies), 20 in Deir Ezzor ( mostly in AlBoukamal), 15 in Hama (mostly in Helfaya massacre), 9 in Homs, 1 in Hassakeh, 1 in Lattakia and 1 in Banyas.

 

News

WHO finds medical emergency in Syria’s shattered Homs

Syria war refugees tell tearful Angelina Jolie of burnt bodies

Filipino workers fleeing civil war in Syria return home with tales of horror amid violence

Syria alleges Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian war to mask its power struggle: Turkish official

Egypt Trying To Persuade Iran To Drop Assad

Syria’s War Animates Zealots in Iraq

Christians fear violent backlash from Syria uprising

Syria: Christians take up arms for first time

 

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Watching and waiting as Syria’s violence spreads

Children’s drawings depict the horror of Syrian conflict

Inside Syria’s Farouk Brigade

Syria’s rebel fighters vow no mercy for their own pro-regime family members

Syria is more violent than Iraq at its worst

Is the Regional Showdown in Syria Rekindling Iraq’s Civil War?

Syria: The killing of a jihadist leader

Whither Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood?

Syria’s Looted Past: How Ancient Artifacts Are Being Traded for Guns

What you need to know about Syria today

A worthwhile initiative by the Arab Students Association at Tufts University: Support Syrian Refugees Through the Turkish Red Crescent Today!

 

Video Highlights

In Seif al-Dawleh Neighborhood, Aleppo City, the body of a little girl lie in the streets, people unable to approach it on account of the continuing shelling http://youtu.be/5lGtQzg6Hrs

In Marei, Aleppo Province, people dig through their rubble in search of the dead in the aftermath of an aerial raidhttp://youtu.be/ZPhvGmRIv08

In Hilfaya, Hama Province, people bury their dead http://youtu.be/0zx3wTVj2B0 , http://youtu.be/8ZXlB0L3ttE

In Daraa City, people find unidentified bodies in the streets discarded by pro-Assad militiashttp://youtu.be/VmhC9RtobXk , http://youtu.be/HQ-JEV3heN0

In Damascus City, restive neighborhoods get pounded with mortar fire, including Al-Hajar Al-Aswadhttp://youtu.be/sD6TSYtw1Oo

In the Suburb of Sbeineh, Damascus Province, locals pick up the dead, victims of a bombing campaign,  from the streets http://youtu.be/xDlSnSVfyKg

The pounding of Alboukamal in Deir Ezzor Province http://youtu.be/IQowxjxw0Jg leaves many woundedhttp://youtu.be/tqgQwWg5XZ8 , http://youtu.be/8RH_XC-IczY

In Deir Ezzor City, locals risk their lives to retrieve the body of a dead man from the rubble-strewn streets http://youtu.be/cHcdYyArZqc

Protestors in Kuwait Rally for Democratic Reform

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — More than 3,000 protestors belonging to the ‘Nahj’ movement gathered in Kuwait’s Irada Square opposite the National Assembly last Monday, demanding that reforms be made to the country’s electoral law.  They also called for the formation of a constitutional monarchy and the election of a prime minister from outside the ruling al-Sabah family.

Thousands of protesters gathered at Irada Square, demanding governmental reform. (Photo Courtesy of the Kuwait Times)

Protesters have criticized the government, saying they have ignored Article 6 of the Constitution, which states that “[t]he System of Government in Kuwait shall be democratic, under which sovereignty resides in the people, the sources of all powers.  Sovereignty shall be exercised in the manner specified in this Constitution.”

Despite a ban on sleeping in the square and sitting in, protesters came to Irada Square with sleeping bags, as they were prepared to defy both prohibitions and stage a sit in for multiple days.  Many MP’s addressed the protestors over the past two days, encouraging them to not give up on their demands.  MP Musallam Al-Barrack said prior to the rally “we will not obey them and will not keep quiet and let them do whatever they want.”  In a message to the protestors, Islamist MP Walid Al-Tabtabaie took to the podium and said that the al-Sabah family can “be the emirs but the ministers will be from among us.”

MP Ali Al-Deqbasi criticized the government, saying that Kuwait is “suffering from corruption and delays in all aspects.”  Deqbasi also said that the rally was not a ploy for the majority block to protect its seats in Parliament, “but to demand the development of Kuwait and ensure its future.”

Speaking on the subject of the protest, columnist Ahmad Al-Dayeen believes that the current system is not a proper democracy.

“What we want is to reach an integrated democratic regime, because there is no democracy in the world without political parties and exchange of power.  We have an incomplete system, and what we want is an integrated democratic system.  The sheikhdom mentality does not want democracy and fights popular rights…” he said.

A source that wished to remain anonymous told Al Watan Daily that it believed the protests to be unconstitutional on grounds that those attending the rally did not “constitute a free opinion in democracy.”  The source also said that the propositions supported by the dissidents were in violation of Article 4 of the Constitution, which says that “Kuwait is a hereditary Amirate, the succession to which shall be in the descendants of the late Mubarak Al-Sabah.”  During the rally, Tabtabaie said that if the government were to act in accordance with Article 6, the people would still be committed to Article 4.

The Nahj Movement, credited for setting up the protest, is comprised of Islamists, independent opposition, and youth activists who want to transform Kuwait into a Constitutional Monarchy.

For further information, please see:

Al Watan Daily — Constitutionality of Rally Statements in Question — 12 September 2012

Arab Times — Nahaj, Majority Bloc Protest Election Law Appeal — 12 September 2012

Kuwait Times — Opposition Protesters vow to Pursue ‘Full’ Democracy — 12 September 2012

Al Jazeera — Kuwaitis Rally for Democratic Reforms — 11 September 2012