Catalan leader accuses Spain of "unjustified violence" in referendum crackdown

BARCELONA - 1 October 2017: Catalan regional leader Carles Puigdemont accused Spanish authorities of using "unjustified, disproportionate and irresponsible" violence in a crackdown on a Catalan independence referendum on Sunday.

The batons, rubber bullets and violence used by Spanish police to prevent voting in what Spanish authorities have said was an illegal referendum had shown a "dreadful external image of Spain", he told reporters.

"The unjustified, disproportionate and irresponsible violence of the Spanish state today has not only failed to stop Catalans' desire to vote ... but has helped to clarify all the doubts we had to resolve today," he said