Spanish court charges Catalan leaders with rebellion

politico.eu - Spain’s Supreme Court said on Friday it will try 13 Catalan independence leaders on charges of rebellion, including ousted regional President Carles Puigdemont and his top aides and allies.

A judge later ordered that four of them should be jailed without bail.

Judge Pablo Llarena’s decision to bring formal charges means the secessionist leaders face potential jail terms of 25-30 years. It also complicates the Catalan parliament’s attempts to replace Puigdemont, who is in exile in Belgium to avoid being jailed over last year’s attempt to declare independence from Spain.

In total, Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena indicted 25 former officials and pro-independence leaders on charges including misuse of public funds and disobedience. He also ordered the main group to pay back €2.1 million to cover the cost of last year’s referendum, which Madrid declared illegal, and court costs.

In a statement, the court said the indictment concerns activities going back six years designed to “execute a predetermined plan with the aim of declaring Catalonia’s independence, outside of the law.”

The judge later said Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell should be placed in pre-trial detention.

The 13 former officials indicted with the most serious charge — rebellion — include Puigdemont; his jailed former deputy Orio Junqueras; the former speaker of the Catalan parliament Carme Forcadell; and two men proposed by the independence movement to replace Puigdemont: Jordi Sànchez of the grassroots Catalan National Assembly (ANC), whose candidacy was blocked because he is in jail; and Turull, who failed to secure the post at a first attempt in the regional parliament on Thursday. ContinueReading

Related: Protesters mock Catalan independence bid with secession call of their own

Failed Spain to impose direct rule over Catalonia after region declares independence

washingtonpost.com - BARCELONA — The Spanish Senate gave the central government in Madrid unprecedented powers over Catalonia on Friday, just minutes after the breakaway region declared independence, sharply escalating a constitutional crisis in the center of western Europe.

The two votes — one for independence, one to restore constitutional rule — came in dueling sessions of parliaments in Barcelona and Madrid.

The central government easily won permission to take over control of Catalonia. Meanwhile, secessionists in Catalonia faced bitter recriminations from Catalan foes who called the move for nationhood a coup and a historical blunder, a month after a referendum that backed a split from Spain.

The widening impasse has left little middle ground in Spain for possible compromises and has spilled over to the European Union, whose leaders fearanother internal crisis after major upheavals such as Britain’s exit from the bloc and the financial meltdown in Greece.

Immediately after the vote for independence, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: “For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.”

Tusk’s remark mirrors fears in Catalonia that the Spanish government will employ police and harsh tactics to take back control of the region.

After the day’s votes, the State Department made clear where Washington stands: “Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government’s constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united.”

What happens now is unclear, though the newly declared republic will struggle to assert itself. Spain’s Constitutional Court will almost certainly declare it illegal, the central government will try to take over the Catalan regional ministries, and few countries in Europe have shown any willingness so far to recognize an independent Catalonia.

The final ballot was 70 to 10 in favor of the declaration of independence in the Catalan Parliament, where 55 deputies declined to vote, showing the deep divisions.

“We have won the freedom to build a new country,” Catalonia’s regional vice president, Oriol Junqueras, tweeted.

Encarna Buitrago was with her friends in a flag-waving crowd in front of the parliament in Barcelona when independence was declared. Many began to weep at the news. (ontinueReading

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