Last week the Spanish premier, Pedro Sánchez, pardoned the nine Catalan political prisoners—to very mixed reactions. The talk of the town across Spanish media for the past week has been the pardoning of the Catalan political prisoners jailed following the unofficial referendum on independence in October 2017. Despite heavy opposition from Spain’s Supreme Court and the … [Read more...] about What do those Catalan pardons mean?
Catalonia
Solidarity in a neutral Scotland
To find the repressive machinery of the state you happen to live in marshalled against you is a terrifying prospect.Most of us will never know what it means to find the passport that allows you to travel freely, the norms you live by suddenly inverted, and all those minute details of freedom that we take for granted, gone.It’s a very particular form of terror to know … [Read more...] about Solidarity in a neutral Scotland
Is that the Scottish Parliament in Barcelona?
To say that the world was shocked when the Scottish Parliament building was suddenly transported 1000 miles into the centre of Barcelona, would be something of an understatement.No similar, verifiable phenomenon had ever before occurred in human history. The field of physics was thrown into disarray, when not one scientist could offer an explanation for why a building with … [Read more...] about Is that the Scottish Parliament in Barcelona?
Clara Ponsati and Scottish justice
The current process against Prof. Clara Ponsati of St. Andrew’s University is a misuse of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW).We all have an interest that criminals, especially serious criminals, cannot escape justice in an increasingly open Europe by hopping across a border. But the EAW can only function if the states have confidence in the justice systems of the other … [Read more...] about Clara Ponsati and Scottish justice
Secession and sovereignty: Catalonia, Scotland…
The standoff over Catalan independence from Spain has split not only the region and country itself, but Europe as a whole.Beyond the ongoing pyrotechnics, this issue raises a bigger question: when is it appropriate for a smaller region of a larger geopolitical entity to secede? What criteria should be used to decide the legitimacy of a particular secession bid? These … [Read more...] about Secession and sovereignty: Catalonia, Scotland…