Noam Chomsky comments on "Èric and the Army of the Phoenix"
Noam Chomsky, prestigious U.S. educator, political activist, and author of the theory of generative grammar (considered the most significant contribution to linguistics in the 20th Century) says about the case of Èric and the Army of the Phoenix: "That's quite incredible. I hope that there is something in print, and that there is serious protest organized. That should be widely known."
This was Chomsky's reaction to the case as documented by director Xevi Mató in Èric and the Army of the Phoenix, subtitled in English for international distribution by Heather Hayes. The documentary narrates the case of a 14-year-old youth accused of terrorism after demanding that supermarket chain DIA label its products in the Catalan language. Èric, a fervent fan of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, created a website he called Exèrcit del Fènix (Army of the Phoenix), inspired by the famous character's adventures. When Èric signed his e-mail messages using the name from his website, the Spanish Justice system insisted on prosecuting him for terrorism, even associating him with an army of terrorists. All this despite knowing full well that Èric was only fourteen.
Èric's family has since taken legal action against the Spanish government for the moral and psychological harassment of a minor, and has taken their case to the Strasbourg's European Court of Human Rights, as well as the United Nations' International Court of Justice, where it is pending.
Based on this case, author Víctor Alexandre has written a satirical play called Èric i l'Exèrcit del Fènix, directed by Pere Planella. The play opened officially at Barcelona's Teatre Borràs this past April, and is set to run in both Valls and Calella, Catalonia, September, when it will begin a tour of the Catalan Countries.
We invite you to join the movement to encourage the viewing of Xevi Mató's documentary, from September 3rd to the 9th, in an attempt to help the film reach the top of the ranking circuit on YouTube's "Most Watched" videos, so that this case and others like it will get some international exposure. It's important that the rest of the world know how the rights of Catalan people are continually violated under the Spanish State.
You can watch the documentary, divided into 5 parts, on YouTube. To participate in the mass viewing, just visit the link to Part I:
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