Video Credit: CEN/@albertmercade
This is the moment a Catalan independence protester is brutally beaten and kicked in the head by a gang of reported far-right supporters in the streets of Barcelona.
The incident took place in the crossroad of the streets Balmes and Rossello in the city of Barcelona during the night of 17th October and was recorded by an onlooker.
In the video the man, an independence protester in his twenties according to local media, is charged at by a group of thugs wearing black.
The thugs, reportedly members of a far-right group, throw the victim to the ground and begin beating him with sticks and Spanish flags.
One of the thugs kicks the victim in the head before repeatedly punching him in the face as an onlooking woman screams.
Passersby then rush in to save the victim as the thugs scatter and the beaten man is led away from the scene.
The far-right group had reportedly gathered in Artos square and started to walk around the Eixemple area of the city.
Local newspaper El Periodico said that Mossos d’Esquadra (the Catalan police) have already identified some members of the group beating up the man in the video.
The Minister of the Interior, Miquel Buch, said in a press conference that they will be arrested soon, but it is unclear if any arrests have been made.
This newspaper also reported that in the streets of Muntaner, a far-right protester was beaten up by a group of independence protesters. Reports state the authorities are working to identify the aggressors in that incident.
The third night of conflict in the city centre of Barcelona ended with nine people injured, including the victim in the video and two more in the city of Girona, also in the Catalonia region.
There is currently a general strike being held in Barcelona organised by independence movements in order to protest against the Spanish Supreme Court sentencing nine Catalan separatist leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison.
Fifty-seven flights from Barcelona airport have reportedly been cancelled.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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