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Good Cop/Bad Cop : Spanish Guardia Civil attack Catalan president's electoral vote centre.

category international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report author Sunday October 01, 2017 10:17author by iosaf mac diarmada Report this post to the editors

A little over a week ago the Spanish state attempted to take control of the Mossos d'Esquadra the Catalan national police force whose men and women have sworn an oath of fealty to Catalonia and answer to the Catalan government "la Generalitat". The Mossos sidestepped all such attempts.
The Spanish ministry of the Interior ordered the Mossos to cordon off with "do not cross police" tape and guards all potential 6000+ electoral centres. A civil rights movement emerged intent on protecting those centres. Friday afternoon parents and teachers as well as children stayed on.at
At 06h23 this morning I went to the school in my area, known to some as the "Forat". A neighbourhood which has a long and sometimes difficult history of confrontation policing (lives lost or ruined), and is considered by some the anarchist heart of the city. I joined the civil rights movement there.
we are pacifists - we resist - good cop
we are pacifists - we resist - good cop

A little over a week ago the Spanish state attempted to take control of the Mossos d'Esquadra the Catalan national police force whose men and women have sworn an oath of fealty to Catalonia and answer to the Catalan government "la Generalitat". The Mossos sidestepped all such attempts.
The Spanish ministry of the Interior ordered the Mossos to cordon off with "do not cross police" tape and guards all potential 6000+ electoral centres. A civil rights movement emerged intent on protecting those centres. Friday afternoon parents and teachers as well as children stayed on.at
At 06h23 this morning I went to the school in my area, known to some as the "Forat". A neighbourhood which has a long and sometimes difficult history of community policiing, and is considered the anarchist heart of the city. c/f "The half a rood of rock" - how we value public space. http://www.indymedia.ie/article/78839 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIXgIYtS7Iw

At 06h44 several hundred people were standing in the very heavy rain outside the occupied school / electoral centre just one part of the civil rights movement protecting ballot boxes and voting centres which have been declared illegal by Madrid. All children were evacuated from schools last night.
the notice in form of informal verbal advice from Catalan police to every assembly last night was to clear by 05h00.
The order from Madrid ministry of interior was to clear by 06h00.
Madrid ordered Catalan police to clear all centres but Spanish national police as we know are drafted in to do so too....
Catalan police chief instructed his men and women to delay clearing the centres until Monday if the officer on site expected resistance.

at 06h44 A Catalan police officer leading a team of 4 officers informed the crowd that the Spanish ministry of the interior had ordered the end of the civil rights occupation "Shall you resist?" - silence. a voice asked "do you need an umbrella?" (it was pissing rain) silence - "we are pacifists & we resist".

The Catalan police officer noting the potential for resistance made an informed decision to leave the civil rights protest : "Have a good day".......the four police officers walked away.
silence.... laughter.....joy.... cops looked back and smiled from ear to ear.....
they had done their duty to the letter.

I of course had to add my bit in English : "you have all made European history : well done!"..,. laughter and applause. hugs. joy.

someone else shouted in English "remember they called Czechoslovakia the velvet revolution ??? we are making the umbrella revolution!!! "
another hushed "Shhhhh!!!!!" yet another joked "who are you to shush us are you Madrid?"

I cycled off quickly to other voting centres in old city of Barcelona. Told people on site what had happened. nerves calmed. Exactly same formula repeated.

"i must inform you that Spain_____" will you resist?"------ we are pacifists we resist.... "have good day".

IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. I ALMOST CRIED.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The paramilitary Guardia Civil went to the electoral centres where those holding top Catalan political office were/are expected to vote.

At the voting centre used the president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, the Spanish paramilitary force baton charged civil rights groups and broke windows. It is thought by many that they may soon detain Mr Puigdemont it is rumoured under charges of rebellion or treason. His predecessor ex-president Mas had his final fines set in excess of 8 million euros this week for his role in organising the last referendum. & there shall be more referendums. That shall be the type of republic we are building here.

There are several videos of the extraordinary but sadly expected and typical Spanish state violence against pacifist civil rights activists this morning at this page
. https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/la-guardia-civil-inten...gent/

Later the mayor of Barcelona, Ada of the alternative leftist anarcho formation shall vote she says "in blank" choosing neither "yes" nor "no". That option 'i always referred to through the years perhaps some readers might remember as the "vote and not -vote" anarcho participative option.

the paramilitary Guardia Civil "a por ellos" attack civil rights groups and the Catalan president's franchise
the paramilitary Guardia Civil "a por ellos" attack civil rights groups and the Catalan president's franchise

The president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont casts his vote - turn out is exceptionally high despite Spanish state violence.
The president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont casts his vote - turn out is exceptionally high despite Spanish state violence.

author by iosaf mac diarmadapublication date Mon Oct 02, 2017 19:43author address author phone Report this post to the editors

We can clearly see all of us in video how as a young woman, a pacifist civil rights protester standing in the way of a Spanish national police officer has not only her fingers broken but at the same time her breast groped.

Barcelona city government is thankfully in the hands of a popularly elected new alliance of leftist and ecological activists who hail from decades of anarchist community political campaign work. Our mayor Ada Colau voted "in blank" yesterday & yesterday evening offered free legal support to everyone who experienced violence at the hands of the Spanish police and paramilitary Guardia Civil drafted into our city in the last week. Today official complaints and investigations have been launched by our city into the multiple sexual assaults made by Spanish law enforcement officers yesterday amidst the extraordinary brutalisation of an entire society and clear criminalisation of two political opinions :- the independence of Catalonia and the estabilishment of a Republic.

One Catalan man´s reaction to the entry by the Guardia Civil with axes and sledgehammers to his voting centre was a simple heart atack.
Fortunately next to him was a qualified member of the ambulance service. Unfortuanately and disgracefully, that ambulance man was beaten to a pulp whilst attempting to adminster CPR.

The elderly man died. The ambulance man went to hospital along with more than 800 others.

Members of the Catalan fire fighter service had formed a cordon to protect the ballot boxes, in the hope that those in the uniform of either Spain´s national police force or Spain´s paramilitary Guardia Civil would respect their peers in emergency response.
http://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20171002/431742168....html

More than ten Catalan fire fighters were seriously injured yesterday.

OF the votes cast and those which could be counted (because Spain´s violence focussed on seizing ballot boxes) 90% said yes.

Quite understandably by mid day voters were intimidated and no longer made their way to electoral centres. The positive emotions of which I wrote and reported in the early ours of the morning had given way to the near despair of such a crushing repression.

Belgium and Slovenia were the first of the EU states to condemn this state violence because their citizens were assaulted and brutalised.

Tomorrow we expect response to the call for a general strike of 24 hours
Tomorrow we expect that the Catalan parliament take the next step in this process and remaining true to its legitimate and democratic mandate make a unilateral declaration of independence.

Yesterday afternoon the Catalan president Mr Puigdemont told an intimidated electorate to use the ballot paper copies I illustrated to indymedia readers and approach any open electoral centre. estimates at serious injuries had by then crossed 500.
Yesterday afternoon the Catalan president Mr Puigdemont told an intimidated electorate to use the ballot paper copies I illustrated to indymedia readers and approach any open electoral centre. estimates at serious injuries had by then crossed 500.

author by iosaf mac diarmadapublication date Sun Oct 01, 2017 14:10author address author phone Report this post to the editors

As of time this comment is submitted 14h52 local time - 39 injuries resulting from Spanis police or paramilitary activity have been treated by the hospitals. 3 are serious. proscribed ordinance throughout Europe, (plastic bullets) have been used.

All the most prominent Catalan political office holders have now voted or "not voted" albeit not always in the originally predicted place. Something all quantum about this illegal referendum that was obviously never going to happen because Spain is all legal and stuff and friendly.

The Catalans or Katalanders as I called them many times over the years) have it is reported formed orderly queues. Those of you who studied module one on this kind of thing know that orderly queues are vital to pacifist resistance stuff.

Here are some photos of interest. All my posts today are really meant as updates to the news reports on the referendum.
The comment feature of indymedia ireland is not working with great speed, so I trust the understanding of the editorial crew. These articles are all relevant today.

History does not get made, begin or end on any one day.

Tomorrow much fewer of the people who live in Catalonia be they franchised or not will feel Spanish than today.

... it might even be possible that more people feel Catalan.

Spanish police take ballot papers by force and of course the votes cast within this morning -
Spanish police take ballot papers by force and of course the votes cast within this morning -

paramilitary Guardia Civil manhandle a civil rights activist & pacifist who had mobilised to protect the voting process.
paramilitary Guardia Civil manhandle a civil rights activist & pacifist who had mobilised to protect the voting process.

volunteers administer first aid in the aftermath of a paramilitary Guardia Civil attack on a voting centre.
volunteers administer first aid in the aftermath of a paramilitary Guardia Civil attack on a voting centre.

author by iosafpublication date Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:21author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Half a Rood of Rock : how we value public space.
archive article 2006 on the Forat neighbourhood of Barcelona
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/78839

How "Catalonia a nation" means "Spain becomes a Federation"
archive article 2005
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/72240

last article
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/106333

 
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