jimkennedy’s avatarjimkennedy’s Twitter Archive—№ 14,030

                  1. A quick thread for the people asking what is going on in Catalonia, in relation to the dawn raids this week against independentist activists. I'm focussing on the Audiencia Nacional, the special anti-terrorism court, but it's important to note that... @josepalay/1176340293563629570
                1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
                  ...the political and judicial repression being perpetrated by the Spanish state against the democratic will of the Catalan people is multifaceted, highly interconnected, and draws on a deep pool of committed idealogues in positions of power.
                  oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
              1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
                The idealogically motivated prosecutors driving the case against the activists detained for 'terrorism' in dawn raids this week work in the Audiencia Nacional, a court specialising in anti-terrorism, usually jihadi but increasingly on the Catalan movement. @torrents_d/1176771321679745024
            1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
              This shift in focus is needed to drive a narrative of 'violence' against Catalonia because in order to prove the charges of rebellion against the political prisoners, legally there needs to be an element of violence - without violence, the charges of rebellion cannot stand.
          1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
            So, how to materialise this violence in the avowedly non-violent Catalan movement? A good example is the Spanish police attacks on the voters on #1Oct, which are deemed to be the 'fault' of the defendants (the deposed Catalan government) in this summer's political trials.
        1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
          The defendants failed to call off the referendum despite dire warnings from the Spanish state that there would be heavy policing if they didn't. The legal argument is that, despite this foreknowledge, they allowed #1Oct to go ahead and so 'caused' the violence.
          oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
      1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
        Another attempt to show violence is how the Catalan police 'failed' to break up the referendum (before the Spanish police tried to do so). Prosecutors in the Audiencia Nacional argue that this was a coordinated, deliberate failure by the Mossos, working against the Spanish state.
        oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
    1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
      This amounts to sedition, which is defined as rising up "publicly and tumultuously to prevent, by force or illegal means, the application of the law."
  1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
    Since the Mossos is an armed police force, great efforts have been made to portray it as the armed wing of a militant independentism. Audiencia Nacional prosecutors are asking for sentences of up to 15 years for the head of the Mossos, the widely revered Major Trapero.
    oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
    1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
      The dawn raids and the clumsy attempts to show bomb-making materials is designed to distract from the upcoming verdicts and sentences in the trial of the political prisoners. It's also a (doomed) attempt to cow the people from protesting against the verdicts.
      oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
      1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
        It is essentially the Spanish regime saying that it can treat people as terrorists and ruin their lives, simply because they support Catalan independence, and all they need for evidence are some common chemicals, the kind we all have under our kitchen sinks.
        1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
          Audiencia Nacional is also behind the case against @TamaraVila83, who was charged with terrorism and confined to her hometown. The terrorism charges were dropped after seven months, but the confinement remained in place for 14. catalannews.com/society-science/item/a-jail-without-bars-one-year-on-activist-remains-confined-to-catalan-town
          1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
            @TamaraVila83 The Audiencia Nacional is also the court that has decided not to investigate links between the Spanish intelligence community and its paid informant Es Satty, the iman responsible for the terrorist attacks that killed 14 people in Barcelona and Cambrils. @jimkennedy/1151227177964318726
            1. …in reply to @jimkennedy
              @TamaraVila83 Then there's the Jordis (@jcuixart and @jordialapreso), heads of two civil organisations, awaiting verdicts and sentencing on charges of rebellion for impeding a police search of a government building, despite trying to calm and disperse the crowd. Anyway... /end
              oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API