N1’s Foreign Editor Ivana Dragicevic spoke on Friday with Spain’s Ambassador to Croatia, Alonso Dezcallar de Mazarredo, on the situation in Spain amid violent unrest that erupted in Catalonia over lengthy prison sentences served to Catalan leaders by the Spanish Supreme Court early last week.

The nine Catalan politicians were sentenced on Monday over their involvement in the 2017 attempt to separate the autonomous community of Catalonia from Spain.

The ruling sparked protests and violence in Catalonia last week, with thousands of supporters of Catalan independence marching towards the city.

“They (the Catalan leaders) were judged because of their actions, not because of their ideas, although they proclaim, and the pro-independence and separatist groups continue to call them political prisoners, and they claim they have been condemned because of their ideas. That is completely false,” de Mazarredo said.

“It’s legitimate to have different ideas and people can defend those who are pro-independence,” he said, adding that the 2017 attempt at Catalan independence was “unilateral because it was against the law, and against the Constitution.”

“In Catalonia, they do not have even 50 percent support,” he said. “…But in spite of that, they have taken the rest of the population hostage.”

He said he did not expect the rise of radicalism in Catalonia.

“We have seen very sad images these last few days,” he said. “I think everybody has the right to express their protest peacefully.”

There are some sectors within the movement that can get out of control, he said, and the independence supporters should try and control the radical groups in their ranks.

“The Spanish police forces, and the Catalan police as well, are coordinating now to try and confront this violence that has appeared in the last days,”he said. “They are working to try to recover the normal situation in Catalonia.”

Watch the full interview below: