MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) Crowds of Catalan independence supporters from different cities of the region have passed over 20 kilometers (12 miles), heading toward Barcelona to take part in a general strike on Friday organized in the wake of the Spanish Supreme Court giving lengthy prison sentences to Catalan politicians involved in organizing the 2017 independence referendum, organizations advocating for Catalan autonomy wrote on social media.
Protesters from five Catalan cities � Girona, Vic, Berga, Tarrega and Tarragona � are on their way to the capital of Barcelona. According to the police, there are about 10,000 marchers from Girona alone. The march is being broadcast live by 24 Horas.
The "Freedom for the Catalan Prisoners" march has been organized at the initiative of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium Cultural, whose respective leaders, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, were sentenced by the Supreme Court to nine years in prison for their involvement in the independence referendum.
One of the marches that started in Girona was joined by the president of the government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, and is now located in the Silsa district, 80 kilometers (49 miles) from Barcelona, ANC wrote on Twitter.
"We came here to express our support for these processions, designed to express disagreement with the sentences and support for self-determination," Torra told reporters, as broadcast by 24 Horas channel.
Three roads in the autonomous community have been blocked due to the movement of the marches, according to the traffic service department. About a dozen more roads were blocked due to other protests.
The march that left from Bergi has already passed about 30 kilometers (18 miles) and is located in the area of Navas, according to the ANC. The march from Vic passed the village of Aiguafreda and is located about 70 kilometers (43 miles) away from the Catalan capital. Protesters from Tarrega are on their way to Igualada, 120 kilometers (74 miles) from Barcelona.
According to the organizers, the idea of the march was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March in India in 1930 and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom led by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.
"The purpose of the march is a massive and non-violent response, to fill the streets again in defense of self-determination and freedom of political prisoners," the organizers said in a statement.
ANC National Secretary David Fernandez said earlier that the protesters' intention was to block the entire main road network in Catalonia.
Earlier in the day, media reported that high-speed trains between Spain's Barcelona and Figueres stopped running because a fiber optics cable, which rail operators have said was "cut intentionally," was found along the tracks.
On Monday, Spain's top court sentenced nine Catalan independence leaders to prison terms ranging from nine to 13 years over their involvement in organizing the unauthorized 2017 independence referendum in the semi-autonomous region. Violent protests ensued, with over 200 people reported injured and at least 50 people detained.
The convicted Catalan independence leaders have since opposed the violence that has been taking place in the autonomous community since Monday.
