My aim in sharing this here is raising awareness of the STATE VIOLENCE perpetrated on Catalan voters, which also meant a direct attack on their legitimate right to vote. Video footage illustrative of my statement has been sent to me by other witnesses who want to publicly condemn the attack.
This article is about my statement for a member of the International Observers team invited by the Catalan Government as onlookers of the voting on 1st October Referendum: a FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEO of my testimony outside the polling station where over 30 Spanish para-military police fiercely attacked peaceful voters and stole the 2 already half filled ballot boxes.
This is my 1st Oct Referendum day story: The news of the cruel riot in the Institut Tarragona polling station had reached the International Observers team in Barcelona. A group of 5 observers were sent 100 Kms South of Barcelona to Tarragona to the polling station where my 79 year old mother was to vote. I was accompanying her. Unfortunately, the Observers team arrived a short time after the polling station was declared closed and only a few people had stayed behind. I was asked to act as interpreter during their visit, and afterwards, Pelle Dragsted, the Danish MP part of the team, asked me to describe what I had witnessed during the attack, in English, for a Facebook Live session that has now been viewed over 5,150 times. I am glad my testimony is reaching the wider international audience. My aim in sharing this here is raising awareness of the STATE VIOLENCE perpetrated on Catalan voters, which also meant a direct attack on their legitimate right to vote. Video footage illustrative of my statement has been sent to me by other witnesses who want to publicly condemn the attack. I have been authorised to share these, for press or legal purposes. Please share to raise awareness of the STATE VIOLENCE perpetrated on peaceful civilians in Catalan polling stations last 1st Oct Referendum Day. This is my 6′ LIVE VIDEO statement to International Observer Pelle Dragsted MP (short intro in Danish, rest in English):
https://www.facebook.com/pelle.dragsted/videos/vb.1198146614/10214521631573378/?type=2&theater
The mandate of the Spanish police was preventing the vote, the world has seen, at any price. 319 polling stations were closed as a consequence of the attacks on civilians all over Catalonia. As stated on the official Referendum results released on the 6th Oct by the Catalan government: 90.18% voters went for YES vote in favour of Independence whilst 7.83% voted for the NO option; the Total vote count was 43% of the census -that is without the 770.000 censed voters allocated to the closed polling stations. Of note, in the polling stations with no riots, the turnout was over 50%. Electoral experts have concluded that the actual turnout would have raised significantly had the 770,000 potential votes not been prevented http://www.catalangovernment.eu/pres_gov/government/en/pressnotice/303544/catalan-self-determination-referendum.html
Silvia Alvarez i Ribes és Tutora de Tècniques d’Estudi a The University of Edinburgh i Queen Margaret University, també a Edimburg, des de 2006.