A hundred people demonstrate in front of the TSJC to demand the freedom of Gallardo, convicted for participating in the 2019 Madrid mobilizations in support of political prisoners
This Saturday morning, a hundred people gathered in Passeig de Lluís Companys, in front of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), to show their support for Dani Gallardo, the Madrid activist who received the order to go to prison for his participation in the protests that took place in Madrid in 2019 in solidarity with the Catalan pro-independence prisoners, after the sentence of the trial. The protests, called by left-wing groups—republicans, anarchists or communists—ended in riots and a confrontation with the police in Plaça de Callao. Various entities such as Òmnium, the ANC or Via Independència, which have organized this Saturday’s demonstration, have criticized Gallardo’s situation and have made a comparison between him and Salvador Puig Antich, when the 50th anniversary of the execution of which is a benchmark of anti-Francoism.
Elena Jiménez, from Òmnium Cultural, denounces that Gallardo’s case is “an aberration” and “a political trial” and warns that “the conviction aims to demobilize support from outside the Catalan Countries”
During the demonstration, brief complaints were made before the TSJC. On behalf of Omnium Cultural, Elena Jiménez has described Gallardo’s case as “an aberration” and “a political trial”, and has assured that “the conviction aims to demobilize support from outside the Catalan Countries”. Jiménez recalled that Gallardo is an anti-fascist activist who took to the streets to defend the Catalan cause and who is now forced to return to prison. At a time when amnesty is being negotiated, Jiménez has warned that this law is not enough, but that it is necessary to guarantee the exercise of fundamental rights in democracy, such as protest. “If they imprison him, he will be the first political prisoner since the amnesty law negotiations,” said Jiménez.
Elisenda Romeu, political exile during Franco’s regime and spokesperson for the ANC, says that “repression is historic in our country” and urges the Generalitat to “face up” to the state government
For her part, Elisenda Romeu, who was an opponent and political exile during the Franco regime, has intervened on behalf of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and has stated that “repression is historic in our country”, referring to the historical memory Romeu took the opportunity to criticize the main pro-independence political parties with institutional representation at the moment and asked them: “Why doesn’t the Generalitat stand up to the State government? Why doesn’t it say that the repressed should not go to prison? Why don’t they do it?”. Romeu has demanded the Executive of Aragon to “stand up” and defend the rights of Catalan citizens.
Gallardo is serving a four-year prison sentence for the 2019 Madrid riots and has no intention of turning himself in
Last week, the Madrid Court gave Dani Gallardo a week to go to prison, after all the resources to defend himself legally were exhausted. Gallardo, 26 years old, has to serve a four-year prison sentence – he has about three left, since he was in pre-trial detention after being arrested – for the riots that occurred during the protest against the judgment of the trial in Madrid in the fall of 2019. According to the ruling, Gallardo was part of a group of about 80 people who confronted riot police with “sticks and cobblestones” and injured some officers. The young anti-fascist militant delayed going to prison as much as possible after the sentence and, as his entourage has told various media, he has no intention of turning himself in, so the court will probably soon issue a warrant for search and capture. With the amnesty in negotiations between the PSOE and Junts, but still not closed and approved, its future is uncertain.