Carta conjunta de todos los expresidentes de la Generalitat y los expresidentes del Parlament vivos para que los cuatro presos independentistas abandonen la huelga de hambre. En una misiva, Jordi Pujol, Pasqual Maragall, José Montilla, Artur Mas, Carles Puigdemont, Joan Rigol, Ernest Benach, Núria de Gispert y Carme Forcadell abogan por "salvaguardar el derecho a la vida" de los presos y consideran que la protesta ya "ha dado visibilidad a su situación procesal y ha despertado conciencias a nivel nacional e internacional".

Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull llevan en huelga de hambre 18 días en la prisión de Lledoners, mientras que Joaquim Forn y Josep Rull mantienen un ayuno indefinido desde hace 16 días. Su estado de salud ha empeorado y Turull ha tenido que ser trasladado a la enfermería de la cárcel, aunque su portavoz destacó el pasado lunes que siguen "comprometidos" con la protesta. Cabe destacar la influencia de Puigdemont, uno de los expresidentes firmantes de la carta, en los cuatro presos de Junts per Catalunya (JxCat).

Los expresidentes, en una misiva promovida por el Síndic de Greuges, Rafael Ribó (el Defensor del Pueblo catalán), exponen que el Tribunal Constitucional ya ha resuelto algunos de los recursos de amparo presentados por los acusados del 1-O y ha calendarizado la resolución del resto. El "bloqueo" del Constitucional a los recursos de amparo, que a su vez cierra la puerta a los presos para acudir a la Justicia euroea, fue precisamente el motivo que adujeron los políticos de Junts per Catalunya para iniciar la huelga de hambre.

Los expresidentes piden a los presos que prioricen "salvaguardar su derecho a la vida y a la salud", así como "garantizar su participación con plenas facultades" en la vista oral del juicio al 'procés', uno de los motivos que ha llevado a los presos de ERC –entre los que se encuentra Forcadell– a rechazar sumarse a la huelga de hambre.</s>Jordi Turull, former spokesman for the regional Catalan government of Carles Puigdemont, began a hunger strike on December 1 in Lledoners prison north of Barcelona.

Turull and other Catalan leaders are in custody pending a trial on charges ranging from sedition to rebellion after they attempted to break away from Spain in 2017 by staging a referendum.

Turull and another leader Jordi Sanchez began a hunger strike to protest what they said was a Constitutional Court block of their attempted appeal against their provisional detention.

"Though he is in stable condition, the time that has passed and his individual condition meant Jordi Turull needed to be transferred to the hospital," his doctor Jaume Padros wrote on Twitter. "There are no worrying signs, this is part of medical protocol," he wrote.

Turull and Sanchez are accused of rebellion for their part in the attempted breakaway of the Catalan region last year. The trial of the two men and other Catalan leaders is expected to begin in Spain's Supreme Court early next year. Two other jailed leaders also joined the hunger strike after Turull.

Current Catalan president Quim Torra has stepped up his separatist rhetoric after his own government was weakened by a wave of strikes by doctors and teachers and by protests by radical separatists.</s>BARCELONA, Spain — The Latest on Catalan independence activists (all times local):

A lawyer representing former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and five other Catalan politicians who have been charged in Spain for violent rebellion has appealed to the U.N.’s Human Rights Committee to help defend their democratic rights.

Nico Krisch denounced a “grave interference in the democratic order” linked to the charges against Puigdemont, who lives in exile in Belgium, as well as Oriol Junqueras, Raul Romeva, Josep Rull, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull. The five are being held in pre-trial detention in Spain.

The Catalan politicians have been charged and suspended from office by Spain’s Supreme Court for their roles in organizing an independence referendum in Catalonia 14 months ago.

The effort announced Thursday seeks the Geneva-based committee’s intervention to help ensure their democratic right to exercise their parliamentary mandate.

A spokeswoman for four jailed Catalan separatist leaders says they are abandoning their hunger strike more than two weeks after starting it because they consider that their protest has achieved its goals.

Speaking on behalf of the politicians, who are awaiting trial for their part in last year’s attempt to secede from Spain, Pilar Calvo said Thursday the strike has drawn attention to the separatists’ plight and prompted Spain’s constitutional Court to review some of their appeals, which enables them to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Pro-independence activist-turned-politician Jordi Sanchez and former Catalan cabinet member Jordi Turull began their hunger strike on Dec. 1. Ex-regional ministers Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn joined two days later.

The constitutional Court had said the appeals were following the normal judicial calendar.</s>MADRID (Reuters) - Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders, incarcerated since October 2017 ahead of a trial for their involvement in a push by the region for independence, called off a hunger strike on Thursday, their spokeswoman said.

“Today, after 20 days since it began, we are ending our hunger strike,” the spokeswoman Pilar Calvo said reading a statement from the protesters, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Jordi Sanchez and Joaquim Forn.</s>Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders are abandoning their hunger strike more than two weeks after starting it because they consider that their protest has achieved its goals, a spokeswoman for the politicians said. They are awaiting trial for their part in last year’s attempt to secede from Spain. The strike has prompted Spain’s Constitutional Court to review some of their appeals, which enables them to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights, spokeswoman Pilar Calvo said on Thursday. Pro-independence activist-turned-politician Jordi Sanchez and former Catalan cabinet member Jordi Turull began their hunger strike on December 1. Ex-regional ministers Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn joined two days later, AP said. According to the Constitutional Court, the appeals are following the “normal judicial calendar.”</s>FILE PHOTO: Catalan politicians Josep Rull (L) and Jordi Turull arrive together to the Supreme Court after being summoned and facing investigation for their part in Catalonia's bid for independence in Madrid, Spain, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Susana Vera FILE PHOTO: Catalan politicians Josep Rull (L) and Jordi Turull arrive together to the Supreme Court after being summoned and facing investigation for their part in Catalonia's bid for independence in Madrid, Spain, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Susana Vera

MADRID (Reuters) – Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders, incarcerated since October 2017 ahead of a trial for their involvement in a push by the region for independence, called off a hunger strike on Thursday, their spokeswoman said.

“Today, after 20 days since it began, we are ending our hunger strike,” the spokeswoman Pilar Calvo said reading a statement from the protesters, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Jordi Sanchez and Joaquim Forn.</s>BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Two leaders of Catalonia’s separatist movement who have spent the last year in prison started a hunger strike on Saturday to protest what they claim is the unfair treatment by Spanish…

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Two leaders of Catalonia’s separatist movement who have spent the last year in prison started a hunger strike on Saturday to protest what they claim is the unfair treatment by Spanish courts.

Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull, regional lawmakers in northeastern Catalonia, said in a statement distributed by the Catalan government that “we will never give up on our right to a fair trial.”

Spain’s government responded by saying that they and other separatist leaders will be treated just like any other citizens brought before the law.

The government led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement that “like all citizens who are subject to and protected by the rule of law, the separatist leaders will receive a fair trial.”

Sanchez and Turull are two of nine separatist leaders who are in pre-trial custody for their role in an illegal secession attempt by Catalonia’s leaders last year. Spain’s state prosecutors will pursue charges of rebellion against both, asking for sentences of 17 years for Sanchez and 16 years for Turull.

Sanchez and Turull are being held in a prison near Barcelona, the largest city in the Catalonia region.

They have been kept behind bars with authorities saying they pose a risk of continuing to push for secession and fleeing Spain like other separatist leaders, including former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.

The trial is expected to start in the coming months.

Catalonia’s current separatist leaders insist they won’t desist in their effort to break away from the rest of Spain.

Election results and polls show that the 7.5 million resident of the wealthy Catalonia region are roughly equally divided by the secession issue.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>BARCELONA, Spain — A spokeswoman for four jailed Catalan separatist leaders says they are abandoning their hunger strike more than two weeks after starting it because they consider that their protest has achieved its goals.

Speaking on behalf of the politicians, who are awaiting trial for their part in last year’s attempt to secede from Spain, Pilar Calvo said Thursday the strike has drawn attention to the separatists’ plight and prompted Spain’s Constitutional Court to review some of their appeals, which enables them to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Pro-independence activist-turned-politician Jordi Sanchez and former Catalan cabinet member Jordi Turull began their hunger strike on Dec. 1. Ex-regional ministers Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn joined two days later.

The Constitutional Court had said the appeals were following the normal judicial calendar.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Four imprisoned Catalan politicians awaiting trial after a failed secessionist bid on Thursday decided to give up a hunger strike protest after nearly three weeks, according to their spokesperson.

Former regional ministers Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn, as well as the president of the separatist civil association Catalan National Assembly (ANC) Jordi Sánchez, are currently in pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds for their role in organizing a referendum on the prosperous northeastern Spanish region's independence from the rest of the country that was deemed unconstitutional by the judiciary.
Carles Puigdemont calls on Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Turull to end the hunger strike they started on 1 December.