CLARA Ponsati, the former Catalan education minister, and her award-winning lawyer Aamer Anwar are to take part in the next two Scottish performances of the stage version of Alex Salmond Unleashed.
The show has been touring the country and has sold out almost 30 performances the length and breadth of Scotland.
Its spring run climaxes on Friday April 27 at the Dundee’s Caird Hall, with an additional show the following night in the Principal Edinburgh George Street Hotel. Both performances start at 7.30pm.
Joining Salmond for a “variety show of friends, fun and freedom” will be the Unleashed gang of Des Clarke – the man who “sounds more convincing as Donald Trump than the POTUS” – comedien Janey Godley, whose voiceover of Mark Zuckerburg’s Congressional testimony is her latest online hit, Dundee’s own Sheena Wellington and the show’s house band, The Carloways.
“I am looking forward enormously to these last two Scottish dates of our Spring tour,” said Salmond. “Clara Ponsati has captured the heart of the nation as she battles against extradition to Spain and this is a marvellous opportunity for people to hear directly what she has to say, ask her questions and rally to her support.
“The 28 performances to date have raised £30,000 for charities both domestic and overseas. In these final two dates we will be supporting Clara’s defence fund.
“There are just a few tickets left for the Caird Hall and we have put on the additional performance in Edinburgh to make sure that people have the opportunity to hear Clara speak.
“It also enables us to return to The Principal at Edinburgh. All of our charity events during the Festival last year were located there and the management and staff have been hugely supportive of the show.”
The two venues will mark the first time The Carloways have played with the Unleashed Show since the untimely death last month of their young guitarist Chris Paterson, from Perth. The band is likely to play a tribute number to their much-missed colleague.
Tickets for the Dundee performance, which also features the Dundee Gaelic Choir, are available on the Caird Hall website, while those for the Edinburgh date go on sale on Monday at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/alex-salmondunleashed-the-tour-tickets-44791332080.
Meanwhile, more than 40 MEPs from 15 member states have demanded the release of Catalonia’s imprisoned politicians and cultural leaders, and for extradition cases to be dropped against those in exile. In a text entitled Manifesto for Dialogue in Catalonia, the MEPs also urge “EU institutions to mediate in the conflict between Catalonia and Spain to find a political solution”.
Most of the Catalan leaders are charged with rebellion and misuse of public funds, but the document says that under Spanish law “peaceful and orderly demonstrations do not constitute a crime of rebellion”. It also says that “organising and holding a referendum is not a crime in Spain” and the Spanish government has already confirmed “no public funds were used to organise the ... referendum”.
The signatories note that under Spanish law, pre-trial detention can last for four years they appeal to Germany to avoid extraditing deposed president Carles Puigdemont, “as the possibility of a fair trial is remote”. They also urge Belgium, the UK and Switzerland not to extradite Toni Comín, Lluís Puig, Meritxell Serret, Ponsatí, Marta Rovira and Anna Gabriel, who are seeking refuge in those countries.
The document was signed by MEPs from all European Parliament groups except Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party; vice president of the Socialists in Europe, Tanja Fajon; former Slovenian foreign minister, Ivo Vajgl and Barbara Spinelli, daughter of one of the EU founders.
Two Scottish MEPs added their names to the list of signatories – the SNP’s Ian Hudghton and Labour’s David Martin.
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