THE images on our TV screens and in our newspapers of what is happening in Catalonia in the run up to the independence referendum are deeply disturbing for all those who believe in democracy.

European values, civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of information and freedom of assembly are being violated by the Spanish government, which has sent the police to search newspapers, printing companies and private mail services; banned political meetings; seized referendum material; and threatened to imprison democratically elected politicians.

Despite more than 70 per cent of Catalans supporting the holding of a referendum, Catalan home rule has effectively been suspended by the Spanish government. This harks back to the dark past of Spain. This issue is not just about independence; it is about fundamental civil rights and the universal right of self-determination.

Instead of engaging in discourse, the Spanish government has opted for police and judges, taking it beyond the limits of a respectable democracy and violating the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. The EU is built on these values and is committed to guaranteeing the rights in the charter and EU treaties. As an EU member state, Spain should respect that. If not, it is the European Commission’s duty to intervene.

The international community must stand with Catalonia in its defence of democracy and European values. Catalonia’s citizens are doing what they can to defend democracy, not with weapons, but through the ballot box.

Alex Orr,

Flat 2, 77 Leamington Terrace,

Edinburgh.

THAT Nicola Sturgeon supports a referendum in Catalonia is unsurprising (“Sturgeon backs right of Catalans to hold independence referendum”, The Herald, September 22). She is a conviction politician whose principal raison d’etre is to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK. She opposes action by any central government that so diametrically contradicts her separatist ambitions.

What is surprising is that the usually cautious Ms Sturgeon’s nationalist fervour has led her down such an unpragmatic path.

The First Minister would need at least tacit support from every EU member state, including Spain, for an independent Scotland’s attempt to join the EU to have any chance of success. Ms Sturgeon’s enthusiastic support for a Catalonian separatist referendum that is so vehemently opposed by the Spanish government is, to understate, unwise.

Indeed, the SNP’s Catalonian stance has already incurred the contempt of Spain’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Ms Sturgeon’s independence aspirations aren’t progressing well anyway but, without possible EU membership in the dim and distant future to dangle at us, they’re dead in the water.

Martin Redfern,

Woodcroft Road, Edinburgh.

DURING First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon called on Spain to respect the wishes of the people of Catalonia.

What she does not mention is that the clear majority in Catalonia wants to remain in Spain, so putting the Spanish government in a difficult position.

Ms Sturgeon sides with the right of the the minority to try to impose their will on the majority. Nothing new in that, then.

Keith Howell,

White Moss,

West Linton, Peeblesshire.

WHY is Jeremy Corbyn silent on Catalonia ? He is a fluent Spanish speaker and was a supporter of social justice, as well as of some of South America’s left-wing governments. Hugo Chaves and Fidel Castro come to mind.

Is he not bothered by the subversion of democracy in Catalonia or the use of force by the state? Let us not forget that, in the 1936-39 Spanish civil war, Glasgow lost 65 brave souls fighting against General Franco’s fascists.

This is not a matter of supporting a Catalonian claim for independence; it is a question of supporting the democratic will of the people, of whom 80 per cent support a referendum and one million took to the streets of Barcelona to back independence.

Mr Corbyn needs to rediscover his principles. Or could he be trying to do the Scottish leadership contenders a favour by steering clear of this subject?

Robert McCaw,

6 Hamilton Crescent, Renfrew.

IT would appear that Dr Gerald Edwards is someone whom it is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to please (Letters, September 21).

He claims that Nicola Sturgeon, by expressing “doubt over the timing of a future independence referendum”, is calling “into question the entire ethos of the SNP” for independence. Yet, he has had letters published about the First Minister and the SNP’s obsession with independence, opposing any future referendum, asserting no one wanted another referendum and so on. Yet when Ms Sturgeon expresses uncertainty about when, not if, there will be a referendum she is, he argues, selling out her party. One might have thought he would have been pleased.

Let’s be clear: no one is saying that there will not be a referendum. The First Minister has gone no further than saying she is not, for now, putting a specific date on when we will vote. She has not said there will not be a vote.

There is an old saying that you “should be careful what you wish for”. I would recommend this to Dr Edwards, as the “complete and utter car crash” of the Brexit process may very well make a second referendum “hard to resist”, as the First Minister suggests.

But before that, could I advise that he is clear that “no referendum” is not the same as “a referendum at a currently unspecified point in the future”.

Alasdair Galloway,

14 Silverton Avenue, Dumbarton.

I AM intrigued by Dr Gerald Edwards’s advice to the First Minister to “take a leaf out of Theresa May’s book and hold a new election to seek out an increased mandate”. We all know how well that went.

I hope Nicola Sturgeon continues to be the antithesis of autocratic Tory rule. When did Dr Edwards ever see Mrs May high-fiving schoolkids or posing cheerfully for selfies? When did he ever see Ms Sturgeon running for her official car with a fixed grin while boos rained down upon her?

I hope and trust that our First Minister will continue to be a woman of the people and will eschew the Westminster culture of lying and power-grabbing that even Dr Edwards must surely have some reservations about.

David C Purdie,

12 Mayburn Vale,

Loanhead, Midlothian.