The European Court of Human Rights declared that Spain violated the right to assembly of four people convicted for the episode known as the siege of the Parliament of Catalonia, which occurred in 2011. The protesters surrounded the Catalan Chamber and prevented the arrival of deputies and then president Artur Mas, in protest of the crisis that was being experienced in those years.
The four convicted people appealed to European justice seeking protection, after exhausting domestic remedies. The European court's resolution arrived approximately 15 years after the events, illustrating the slowness of justice, especially when the case escalates to international instances.
The court considered that there was a violation of the right to assembly of the four applicants, recognizing that the circumstances of the conviction did not justify the restriction imposed on their freedom of expression and demonstration. However, the court did not consider that they should receive compensation for the damages suffered.
