Mario Vargas Llosa quits writers' body over Catalan remarks

Nobel laureate resigns after Pen International calls for release of jailed Catalan leaders

The Nobel laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa, has resigned as emeritus president of Pen International after the writers’ freedom of expression group called for the release of two jailed Catalan civil society leaders, claiming Catalans have recently been persecuted “in a way not seen since the Franco dictatorship”.

Jordi Cuixart, the president of Òmnium Cultural, and Jordi Sànchez, former president of the powerful grassroots group the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), have been in pre-trial detention since October 2017.

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