Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has appeared in a police report linked to Tsunami Democratic, who are under investigation for terrorism in Spain.
After a number of years of protests demanding the right for Catalan public to vote on self-determination, the Spanish police have brought charges against one of the primary organisations responsible for those protests, Tsunami Democratic.
The Guardia Civil, Spain’s state police, allege that the organisation are responsible for a “powerful media campaign promoted from the highest political levels and pro-independence civil sectors.” This campaign is something they believe Guardiola participated in.
The police report, which VozPopuli have had access to, says the following of Guardiola.
“He did not hesitate to put his voice at the disposal of Tsunami Democratic, joining in their demands and encouraging the Catalan population to rebel against the rule of law.”
Pep Guardiola asks Sweden Prime Minister to vote to accept Catalan as an official language in the EU #Pep #Catalunya pic.twitter.com/nBkf2Lo5zo
— The Pep (@GuardiolaTweets) September 16, 2023
“In fact, as the years went by, the presence of the former Barcelona coach at events in favour of the right to self-determination and the break with the Spanish State has grown, even joining the electoral list of the Junts pel Si [Together for yes] party in the regional elections of 2015, being to date one of the most visible faces of the independence process at the international level.”
Guardiola has not hidden his beliefs that he believes that Catalonia should have the right to vote on who leads them. Always keen to promote Catalan culture, Guardiola recently lobbied for Catalan to be included as an official EU language.
It should be noted that while there have been widescale protests surrounding Catalan independence, this has involved vandalism and civil disobedience, but there has not been any violence during Catalan independence protests, or acts orgsanised by Tsunami Democratic, who are most famous for blockading a key road between France and Catalonia, and staging a sit-in protest of El Prat airport in Barcelona.
The UN definition of terrorism does not correspond to Tsunami Democratic’s acitivities, and the legal case against them is hotly debated, with some legal bodies believing they should be on trial for civil disobedience rather than terrorism. The only people so far harmed in the process have been voters and protestors during the 2017 illegal referendum, as the Guardia Civil violently removed and beat them, resulting in 893 injuries and 4 people being hospitalised.
The investigation into TD is still ongoing, and is being overseen by Canada as a neutral party in the matter. At the time of writing, it seems unlikely Guardiola will see any consequences for his demands for self-determination.
