Catalan separatist leaders given lengthy prison sentences | Hacker News Reader

Catalan separatist leaders given lengthy prison sentences

theguardian.com

16 pointsznq7 comments

Taking into account max sentence for sedition is 15 years and they got 12 years for sedition + misuse of public money and they'll probably only spend half of that time in prison... seems like 'lengthy' is not the correct word.

The Supreme Court has not closed the door the possibility yet of them being immediately granted the so-called penitentiary third degree, which would allow them to live in semi-freedom (spend only nights in prison from Monday to Thursday) since the get-go. And like you're saying, in all likelihood it won't even be close to 13 years of that.

I'd say it's pretty lengthy for putting a choice on a ballot in a democracy.

What they did has nothing to do with democracy or "putting a choice". They tried to abuse their position to force their personal point of view on a whole country.

Holding a vote had nothing to do with democracy?

>They tried to abuse their position to force their personal point of view on a whole country

They're politicians. That's sort of their job. If you don't like what they do, vote them out.

> Holding a vote had nothing to do with democracy?

A vote where radical activists invested in a specific outcome store ballot boxes in their own homes? You got to be joking.

> They're politicians. That's sort of their job.

That's patently wrong, as they are now doing prison sentences for abusing their position and by violating the laws they were supposed to comply with.

You can't complain in one sentence about misuse of government resources, then in the next complain that they kept ballots at home. I'm sure they would have loved to keep the ballots in the proper government places, but soldiers with guns tend to be persuasive. If you don't provide a legal method for political dissent, don't be surprised when people choose an illegal one.

>now doing prison

This proves nothing but a government wanting to quash dissent.

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