Jordi Cuixart

I HAVE been imprisoned by the Spanish state since October 16, 2017 for exercising fundamental rights. And three years on, I have not renounced either my ideals or my life. While in prison I got married and had another child. I have learned to pass on to my family the importance of never losing hope. It is hard, but as an activist I accept my status as a political prisoner. Every day I spend behind bars has meaning because I am also fighting for their future.

SPAIN is on the verge of a trial that will decide the future of its democracy. On February 12, I will sit before the Supreme Court in Madrid, with my name among those of the accused, but it will be Spain’s democracy itself that will be facing trial. I, along with 11 others, am being prosecuted for having defended the most basic human rights: the right to vote on one’s political future, the right to demonstrate peacefully, the right to freedom of expression.