From the BBC:
“Quim Torra:
Spain's top court bans Catalonia leader from office”
Spain's top
court has upheld a decision to ban Catalonia's separatist leader Quim Torra
from holding public office. The case stems from Mr Torra's refusal to take down
a pro-independence symbol from a government building ahead of last year's
general election. He was found guilty of disobeying a court order to remove the
banner, and will now be forced to stand down. The Supreme Court's decision to
uphold Mr Torra's 18-month ban triggered immediate calls for protests. It is
not yet clear when the ban will take effect, but Catalonia's high court is
expected to rule on this imminently. Catalonia, home to Barcelona, is a
semi-autonomous region in north-eastern Spain with about 7.5 million people. Its
drive for independence plunged Spain into its biggest political crisis in 40
years in 2017. The region had its autonomy suspended for almost seven months by
Madrid after a failed bid to break away. "[Mr Torra] repeatedly and
stubbornly disobeyed the orders of the Central Electoral Board to remove
certain symbols from public buildings belonging to the [regional government]
during the electoral process," the Supreme Court judges said in their
ruling on Monday. The 57-year-old defended himself on the grounds of freedom of
expression and had been appealing against an earlier verdict in a lower court. But
the judges said he had defied a constitutional body and rejected his appeal. It
is believed deputy Catalan leader Pere Aragones will become the region's acting
head. Mr Torra, a staunch separatist, was elected in May 2018 as a relative
newcomer to politics. He pledged that his new government would "build an
independent state in the form of a republic" In October last year, the
Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan politicians and activists to jail terms of
between nine and 13 years over the 2017 independence bid. "Supreme
shame," Jordi Turull, one of the jailed leaders, wrote on Twitter after
Monday's ruling.”Once more, the Spanish state interferes in our democratic
institutions," Mr Torra's predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, wrote.
^ The Spanish
Supreme Court is only making Quim Torra a martyr to both the Catalans and the
other Spaniards. ^
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