An impressive demonstration of hundreds of thousands of supporters of a unified Spain who came to Barcelona from all over the Kingdom became the biggest show of force yet by the so-called ‘silent majority’ watching as regional political leaders resurrected Catalan independence abolished by Franco dictatorship. Spaniards today in the center of Barcelona beating Catalans.None…
Category: Human Rights
Finnish MP calls for recognition of Catalonia
A member of the Finnish Parliament for Lapland, Mikko Kärnä, has announced he will submit a motion to the Finnish Parliament in favour of officially recognising the independent Catalan Republic. Defending #Catalonia is also defending Finland, defending #EU of regions and defending subsidiarity. https://t.co/ndpjCVCavI — Mikko Kärnä 🇫🇮🇺🇦 (@KarnaMikko) October 27, 2017 The MP represents the…
Farmers arrive to Barcelona for protecting Catalan Parliament
Catalan farmers started to arrive to Barcelona to defend Parliament in case of Madrid’s attempt to seize power, and launch arrests of people’s representatives in implication of the Article 155. Today Senate in Madrid is aiming to vote imposition of direct rule over self-governed region upon the demand of prime-minister Mariano Rajoy, whose speech was…
Whistleblower protection in EU
EU rules are needed to better protect and support whistleblowers and their role in revealing serious breaches of the public interest, such as corruption, miscarriages of justice, tax avoidance, lack of protection for food safety or the environment and attacks on social, human or workers’ rights, say MEPs during Strasbourg Plenary debate. The issue came…
Russia to reduce fee to ECHR
Russia can freeze its membership in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and reduce its contributions said deputy head of the State Duma committee for International affairs Alexei Chepa. https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/922450987478118401 Izvestia newspaper, citing several high-ranking sources in the State Duma, said that Russia is considering suspending its participation in the ECHR and reducing contributions…
Sakharov Prize top nominees 2017
The finalists for this year’s Sakharov Prize have been announced. The laureate will be selected on 26 October by the President and the political group leaders. Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, and the Swedish- Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak have been named as this year’s finalists for Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom…
Council of Europe urges to investigate Spanish police violence
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muiznieks, urged Spanish home affairs minister, José Ignacio Zoido, to investigate Spain’s police actions during the October 1 referendum. In a letter sent on October 4 to the Spanish home affairs minister, Muiznieks called for an “independent and effective” investigation into Spain’s police violence which aimed…
Europarliament split on #Catalonia independence
Anna van Densky, Strasbourg. The hearing on #Catalonia, October 4, could not be qualified as ‘debate’ in a proper sense of this word: the leaders of the European Parliament political groups, and 1st vice-president of the European Commission, articulated their positions vis-à-vis dramatic events, without an opportunity to debate it with fellow MEPs. However even…
#Catalonia MEP Anderson: where is #EU?..
The mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau Ballano informed about 460 injured after Spanish riot police stormed polling stations in an attempt to physically prevent Catalonia’s independence referendum taking place. Spanish national newspaper El Pais reports about 465 injured. In spite of the riot police efforts many Catalans managed to cast their ballots in the poll, declared ‘illegal’ by Madrid, there…
MEP demands truth over Rocchelli assassination
Eleonora Forenza, MEP, (European United Left) expressed her concern over lack of movement in the investigation by Ukrainian authorities of the assassination of an Italian photojournalist Andrea (Andy) Rocchelli (30) near #Slavyansk three years ago. The question addressed to the Kiev’s officials was raised during the European Parliament hearing on Violation of human rights, restriction of freedom of…
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