NICOLA Sturgeon has condemned the jailing of several former Catalan ministers as Nationalist MPs called on the UK Government to urge the Spanish state to hold a Scotland-style independence vote.
A Spanish judge ordered nine ex-members of the Catalan Government to be remanded in custody while they were investigated over allegations of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds following the October 1 independence referendum.
This took place in defiance of a constitutional court ruling, which declared it illegal.
READ MORE: Judge jails nine former Catalan politicians amid probe over independence bid
The state prosecutor has requested a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, the ousted Catalan leader, and four other dismissed ministers, who failed to attend court in Madrid as requested.
The First Minister, responding to the Spanish court’s action, tweeted: “The disagreement about Catalonia’s future is political. It should be resolved democratically - not by the jailing of political opponents.”
She added: “Regardless of opinion on Catalonia, the jailing of elected leaders is wrong and should be condemned by all democrats.”
Last week, Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish Prime Minister, imposed direct rule on Catalonia, dissolving the regional parliament and calling local elections for December.
In the poll, 90 per cent of people voted in favour of Catalan becoming independent state on a turnout of 43 per cent.
At Westminster, Scottish and Welsh Nationalist MPs called on Theresa May’s Government to urge Madrid to hold an independence referendum similar to the one held in Scotland three years ago.
In an Urgent Question, called by Plaid Cymru, Welsh MP Hywel Williams urged the Conservative administration to use its influence to try to ensure progress was made in Spain.
“No one can doubt that this is eventually a political matter rather than a legal one. Getting both parties to talk is the way forward. In this situation, the UK Government have a responsibility and an opportunity,” insisted the MP for Arfon.
READ MORE: Judge jails nine former Catalan politicians amid probe over independence bid
The SNP’s Peter Grant told MPs there was “conclusive evidence of the Spanish state sending people into demonstrations to incite violence against the police and of excessive police brutality against unarmed citizens doing nothing other than attempting to express a view”.
The Glenrothes MP urged the Government to “put pressure on the EU to offer to act as a mediator so that the wishes of the people of Catalonia and of Spain can be resolved in a way that does not involve any further unlawful acts by the Spanish state?”
His Nationalist colleague Joanna Cherry, noting how, like Holyrood, the Catalan Parliament had a majority in favour of holding an independence referendum, and how the 2014 Scottish vote was held legally and by agreement, said: “All we are asking is for the Minister to use his good offices and his positive experience to suggest a similar approach to our Spanish allies.”
Sir Alan Duncan, for the UK Government, made clear he saw the future of Catalonia as an “internal matter”.
The Europe Minister explained: “It is not for other countries to instruct a country on how to perform within the proper workings of its constitution.
“Catalonia and Scotland are not exactly the same as countries horribly oppressed by the Soviet Union and we should not draw parallels between quite different situations.
“As the Spanish courts have ruled, the vote was not held within the Spanish legal and constitutional framework. The Scottish referendum, on the other hand, was a legal referendum held following the signature of the Edinburgh Agreement between the Scottish Government and the UK Government and was overseen by the Electoral Commission.”
Earlier, Labour’s Emily Thornberry called for an end to the "officially sanctioned violence" in Catalonia and urged the UK Government to promote peace.
READ MORE: Judge jails nine former Catalan politicians amid probe over independence bid
The Shadow Foreign Secretary said people in Spain were being presented with a “false choice, an impossible choice between on the one hand a unilateral declaration of independence and on the other direct rule from Madrid”.
Sir Alan said the choice was not the one Ms Thornberry had suggested but, rather, one between “upholding the rule of law or not”.
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