Spain’s Supreme Court ruled 25 Catalan leaders should be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state.

Convictions could result in up to 30 years in prison.

More than 20 people were injured as police used riot batons to keep protesters away from federal buildings in Barcelona on Friday night.

Demonstrations also took place in other parts of Catalonia.

In Madrid, a Supreme Court judge ordered five more Catalan leaders to be detained without bail, pending trial over their involvement in October’s banned independence referendum.

One of those taken into custody was Jordi Turull who was to be the subject of a vote in the Catalan parliament on Saturday for regional president.

Other separatist figures were already in custody or had gone into exile abroad.

What happened in the protests?

Friday night’s rallies had been organised by a separatist group before the court decisions were announced.

But the rulings appeared to inflame the protesters and angry crowds confronted lines of riot police protecting Spanish government buildings in Barcelona.

They waved flags and chanted independence slogans while some burned pictures of the Supreme Court judge and of Spain’s King Felipe.

Tensions spilled over into violence as some protesters tried to break through police lines.

Some protesters in Barcelona burned pictured of King Felipe

A calmer rally took place in Catalonia Square, in the city centre.

One protester there, Carme Sala, said: “There are two million people who want to leave Spain and they can’t put us all in prison.”

Catalan TV showed rallies in support of the jailed leaders elsewhere in the region including in the cities of Vic and Tarragona.

What angered the protesters?

Friday’s rulings at the Supreme Court in Madrid were considered the most serious challenge to date for the Catalan independence movement. Almost the entire leadership now faces a major legal fight.

Altogether 25 separatists have been charged variously with sedition, rebellion, embezzlement and other crimes. They deny the allegations.

The five Catalan politicians remanded in custody on Friday were:

• Jordi Turull – former Catalan government spokesman and the latest candidate for regional president
• Josep Rull – former Catalan development minister
• Carme Forcadell – former Catalan parliament speaker
• Raul Romeva – former Catalan foreign affairs chief
• Dolors Bassa – former Catalan labour minister

All five spent some time in detention following the banned referendum but were released on bail late last year pending investigations into their individual roles in the banned referendum.

In his 70-page ruling, Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena said that they should be returned to jail as they represented a flight risk. He did not set a date for their trial.

Politician Josep Rull said goodbye to family and friends before entering court on Friday

The five join four other Catalan leaders already detained in prison. They include Oriol Junqueras, the former Catalan vice-president, and Jordi Sánchez, who was nominated to lead the Catalan government but dropped the bid after the Spanish authorities refused to release him to attend an investiture ceremony.

Judge Llarena also issued an arrest warrant for Marta Rovira, the deputy head of the separatist Esquerra Republicana party, who failed to appear in court on Friday.

It later emerged that she had fled into exile and Spanish media reported that she was in Switzerland.

“Exile will be a difficult road, but it is the only way I have to recover my political voice. Long live a Catalan Republic for all!,” she said in a letter published in the Spanish media.

Judge Llarena also reactivated European arrests warrants for six others who are in self-imposed exile, including former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont who is in Belgium.

What other reaction has there been?

The five Catalan leaders were driven from the court to prison

The nationalist Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) condemned the court ruling and demanded the release of all those held in prison.

Although the leadership vote for Mr Turull can no longer take place on Saturday, Catalan parliament speaker Roger Torrent said he would use the parliamentary session to read a statement in support of those in prison.

Following the referendum, the central government in Madrid sacked the Catalan regional government, imposed direct rule and called new elections but pro-independence parties returned with a slim majority.

In a setback for the pro-independence cause, a survey published by the respected Catalan Centre for Opinion Studies recently suggested support for independence had dropped sharply, with a majority of Catalans now against the idea.

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Source: BBC

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Speaking to the Associated Press, Paul Bekaert suggested Mr Puigdemont should instead be questioned in Belgium where he has been since Monday.

He has been summoned to court in Madrid on Thursday, alongside 13 deputies.

They face charges including sedition and misuse of public funds over last month’s banned independence referendum.

Spanish prosecutors could order their arrest if they fail to appear in court for questioning.

But Mr Bekaert told Dutch and Belgian media that his client would “wait and see” further reaction from the Spanish authorities before returning because of the “high” risk of detention.

He also suggested he would fight any extradition ordered by the Spanish national government.

Spain has been gripped by a constitutional crisis since a referendum, organised by Mr Puigdemont’s separatist government, was held on 1 October in defiance of a constitutional court ruling that had declared it illegal.

The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favour of independence.

After the regional parliament declared independence, Spain’s took direct control and sacked the government, including Mr Puigdemont.

On Monday, Spain’s chief prosecutor said the Catalan leaders were accused of rebellion – which carries a maximum 30 year jail term – as well as sedition and misuse of funds.

The leaders are yet to be formally charged but are due to testify at the Audiencia National (National Court) on Thursday and Friday.

The court summons also gave them three days to pay a deposit of €6.2m ($7.2m) to cover potential liabilities.

Both Mr Puigdemont and his lawyer denied at a news conference on Tuesday that he had travelled to Belgium to seek asylum.

He said he was there “for safety purposes” and wanted to be able to speak freely.

Joaquim Forn and Dolors Bassa, the deposed Catalan interior and labour ministers who travelled with the former Catalan president to Belgium, returned to Barcelona on Tuesday night.

They were greeted by chants of “off to prison” by some crowds that had gathered at Barcelona international airport, according to media reports.

Mr Puigdemont previously said he would return to Spain if he and his colleagues received guarantees of a fair trial from the Spanish government.

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Source: BBC

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On Friday, Madrid stripped Catalonia of its autonomy and removed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont from office.

The temporary move will see as many as 150 of the region’s ministers replaced. Some have vowed to continue to work.

Mr Puigdemont and other Catalan officials may face criminal charges, a move likely to lead to huge protests.

What happens next?

Spain’s central government is set to take control of Catalan institutions with Spanish officials expected to be put in place in the region’s ministries on Monday.

Madrid has called for the Spanish constitutional court to revoke Catalonia’s unilateral vote for independence.

Mr Puigdemont and his vice-president Oriol Junqueras say they do not accept the moves by Madrid, adding that they can only be removed from office by the citizens of Catalonia.

If Mr Puigdemont and others refuse to step aside, they face possible arrest and prosecution on charges of rebellion – the maximum sentence for which is 30 years.

About 200,000 civil servants are due to arrive on Monday, but it is not clear how many will stay away or refuse to follow instructions.

The former Catalan Sustainability Minister, Josep Rull, said he was continuing with his “scheduled agenda” and posted an image on Twitter showing him at his desk.

“I’m at the office carrying out the responsibilities that the people [of Catalonia] entrusted to us,” he wrote.

However, Madrid has given Catalan ministers hours to pack up their belongings and leave their offices or Catalonia’s regional police force, known as Mossos, will “act”.

Mossos, whose chief was dismissed last week, are deployed in Sant Jaume square, near the government palace in the centre of Barcelona.

Spain’s Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis has said he expects the officers to “act professionally”.

Spain’s chief prosecutor has also been preparing criminal charges against any officials considered to have acted against Spanish law in declaring independence following a referendum deemed illegal under the Spanish constitution.

Meanwhile, Madrid has called for fresh regional elections on 21 December.

Mr Puigdemont could run in new elections, according to Mr Dastis, but only if the sacked Catalan leader has not been jailed.

What about Catalonia’s autonomy?

On Monday, Mr Dastis said he hoped the forthcoming elections would help to “restore legal governance and rule of law in Catalonia”.

“We hope and believe that after these elections, Catalonia will again be the same society it was before: open and integrated,” he said during a press briefing in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido has written to all police officers in Catalonia asking for their loyalty as a “new era” begins in the region.

Senior police officers have told the BBC that they have already complied with an order to remove framed photographs of Mr Puigdemont from police stations across the region.

What is the local press saying?

• The centre-left and unionist Madrid-based El País says that Sunday’s huge pro-union protest in Barcelona “has shown in this difficult moment that Catalan society is much more plural than what the pro-independence block strives to show”
• The pro-union Barcelona-based El Periódico says the protest was the “start of the election campaign”. It adds that “the new regional elections should serve to move Catalonia out of its current impasse”
• The pro-independence Catalan language Ara suggests in an editorial that it would be an “error” for the pro-independence parties not to contest the 21 December elections
• The moderate Barcelona-based La Vanguardia focuses on the importance of “reconstruction” and how to overcome the divisions in Catalan society. “All sides will inevitably discover that there is no political problem that cannot be resolved by dialogue” it says

Rule from Madrid

Spain has been gripped by a constitutional crisis since a referendum, organised by Mr Puigdemont’s separatist government, was held earlier this month in defiance of a ruling by the constitutional court which had declared it illegal.

The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favour of independence.

Friday saw the regional parliament declare independence.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy then announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of Mr Puigdemont as Catalan leader.

Mr Puigdemont has urged “democratic opposition” to direct rule from Madrid.

Before Madrid took over the Catalan government, the region had one of the greatest levels of self-government in Spain.

It has its own parliament, police force and public broadcaster, as well as a government and president, though those have now been dismissed.

Catalans had a range of powers in many policy areas from culture and environment to communications, transportation, commerce and public safety.

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Source: BBC

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The measures early on Saturday came after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence on Friday.

An official state bulletin dismissed Catalan leaders and handed control of Catalonia to Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Earlier, Spain’s interior ministry took charge of Catalonia’s police after firing senior Catalan police officials.

On Friday, PM Mariano Rajoy announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of the Catalan leader, and called snap local elections.

Demonstrations for and against independence went on into the night.

More are expected on Saturday, with a rally “for the unity of Spain and the constitution” to be held in Madrid.

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The crisis began when Catalan leaders held an independence referendum, defying a ruling by the Constitutional Court which had declared it illegal.

The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favour of independence. Others boycotted the vote after the court ruling.

What are the latest developments?

On Friday afternoon, the Catalan regional parliament voted to declare independence from Spain.

Soon after, the Spanish Senate granted Mr Rajoy’s government the power to impose direct rule on Catalonia.

It did so early on Saturday by publishing an official bulletin (in Spanish) that dismissed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and all government members.

The announcement came hours after the Madrid government removed Josep Lluís Trapero Álvarez as chief of Catalonia’s autonomous Mossos police force.

Mr Trapero was already under investigation for sedition, accused of failing to help Spain’s Guardia Civil police tackle thousands of pro-independence protesters in Barcelona during the run-up to the referendum.

“[Mr Puigdemont] had the opportunity to return to legality and to call elections,” Mr Rajoy said.

“It is what the majority of the Catalonian people asked for – but he didn’t want to do it. So the government of Spain is taking the necessary measures to return to legality.”

Regional elections are scheduled for 21 December.

Mr Puigdemont urged supporters to “maintain the momentum” in a peaceful manner. Spanish prosecutors say they will file charges of “rebellion” against him next week.

Separatists say the independence move means they no longer fall under Spanish jurisdiction.

But the Spanish Constitutional Court is likely to declare it illegal, while the EU, the US, the UK, Germany and France all expressed support for Spanish unity.

What powers did Catalonia have?

Prior to Madrid taking over the Catalan government, the region had one of the greatest levels of self-government in Spain.

It has its own parliament, police force and public broadcaster, as well as a government and president, though those have now been dismissed.

Catalans had a range of powers in many policy areas from culture and environment to communications, transportation, commerce and public safety.

Foreign affairs, the armed forces and fiscal policy were always the sole responsibility of the Spanish government.

• What powers has Catalonia now lost?
• The case for and against independence

What’s the reaction been?

Thousands celebrated the declaration of independence on the streets of Barcelona, Catalonia’s regional capital.

The same crowds that cheered each Yes vote from Catalan MPs reportedly booed Mr Rajoy as he made his announcement.

There were pro-unity demonstrations too, with protesters in Barcelona waving Spanish flags and denouncing Catalan independence. A large pro-unity rally is expected in Madrid on Saturday.

In other reaction:

• Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau condemned the move by Madrid, but also criticised Catalan pro-independence parties for “advancing at a kamikaze pace…after their mistaken reading of the results of the Catalan elections”
• EU President Donald Tusk said Madrid’s government “remains our only interlocutor” in Spain, but called for restraint
• The UK government said it did not recognise the declaration of independence by Catalonia.

How did we get here?

After the 1 October referendum, Mr Puigdemont signed a declaration of independence but delayed implementation to allow talks with the Spanish government.

He ignored warnings by the Madrid government to cancel the move, prompting Mr Rajoy to first announce his plans to remove Catalan leaders and impose direct rule.

• Does Catalonia want to leave Spain?
• Reality Check: Police violence in Catalonia

Catalonia is one of Spain’s richest, most distinctive regions, with a high degree of autonomy.

Many Catalans feel they pay more to Madrid than they get back, and there are historical grievances, too, in particular Catalonia’s treatment under the dictatorship of General Franco. But Catalans have been divided on the question of independence.

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Demonstrations are planned in the capital Madrid and other cities, with supporters calling for a similar rally in Catalonia’s capital Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Spain’s government representative in Catalonia earlier apologised to those hurt during police efforts to stop the referendum.
But Enric Millo blamed the Catalan government for holding an illegal vote.

In the first apology by a Spanish government official over the violence during the referendum, Mr Millo said he could not help but “regret it and apologise on behalf of the officers that intervened”.

Hundreds of people were injured as police, trying to enforce a Spanish court ban on the vote, attempted to seize ballot boxes and disperse voters.

Thirty-three police officers were also hurt.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont now plans to address the Catalan parliament on Tuesday at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT), the speaker of the parliament in the autonomous north-eastern region says.

Spain’s Constitutional Court had earlier suspended the Catalan parliament session that had been planned for Monday.

There is speculation that the parliament will declare independence unilaterally at its next sitting, based on the referendum.

The final results from the poll show 90% of the 2.3m people who voted backed independence. Turnout was 43%.

There have been several claims of irregularities, and many ballot boxes were seized by the Spanish police.

After a cabinet meeting, the Spanish government spokesman also expressed regret that people had “suffered consequences” during Sunday’s vote – though he cast doubt on the numbers who had been injured.

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo suggested that new elections in Catalonia might be a way to heal the fracture caused by the disputed referendum.

Meanwhile, the former leader of Catalonia, Artur Mas, told the Financial Times that the region was not yet ready for real independence – even though he believed it had won the right to break away.

Stepping back from the brink?
The competing authorities in Barcelona and Madrid could each take a potentially dramatic step. Barcelona has the option of making a unilateral declaration of independence. For its part, Madrid has the power to dissolve self-rule in Catalonia. Each step – if taken – would provoke a constitutional crisis in Spain.

There are some signs that each side may choose to pause. Mr Puigdemont says he will deliver a report to the Catalan parliament on Tuesday about the political situation – a deliberately vague form of words which gives him room for manoeuvre.
–

Source: BBC

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Mireia Boya, a Catalan lawmaker from the pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party, said on Twitter that a declaration of independence would follow a parliamentary session on Monday to evaluate the results of the vote to break away.

“We know that there may be disbarments, arrests … But we are prepared, and in no case will it be stopped,” she said.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont earlier said he would ask the region’s parliament to declare independence following the poll, which Spain’s government and constitutional court say was illegal and in which only a minority of Catalans voted.

“This will probably finish once we get all the votes in from abroad at the end of the week and therefore we shall probably act over the weekend or early next week,” he told the BBC in remarks published on Wednesday.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild, Puigdemont said he already felt like “a president of a free country where millions of people have made an important decision”.

He said the Madrid government’s refusal to negotiate had left Catalonia “no other way” than to declare independence and accused it of authoritarianism.

“The Spanish government is letting political opponents be arrested, it is influencing media and blocking Internet sites. We are under observation day and night,” Puigdemont said.

“What is that other than an authoritarian state?”

Spain was only restored to democracy following the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco, under whom the Catalan language and traditions were suppressed.

The constitutional crisis in Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy, has shaken the common currency and hit Spanish stocks and bonds, sharply raising Madrid’s borrowing costs.

The cost of insuring against potential losses on Spanish bank debt and Spanish, Italian and Portuguese sovereign debt has also jumped, suggesting an impact on the wider euro zone.

Bank stocks were hit especially hard as the Ibex stock index .IBEX, fell below 10,000 points on Wednesday for the first time since March 2015. In a sign of the nervous public mood, Catalonia’s biggest bank, Caixabank and Spain’s economy minister had earlier sought to assure bank customers that their deposits were safe.

Influential Catalan business lobby Cercle d‘Economia said it was extremely worried by the prospect of Catalonia declaring independence and called for both sides to start talks.

“Such a declaration would plunge the country into an extraordinarily complex situation with unknown, but very serious consequences,” the group said in a statement.

EVENING STATEMENT

Puigdemont’s comments appeared after Spain’s King Felipe VI accused secessionist leaders on Tuesday of shattering democratic principles and dividing Catalan society, as tens of thousands protested against a violent police crackdown on Sunday’s vote.

The Catalan leader is due to make a statement at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Wednesday.

Spain has been rocked by the Catalan vote and the Spanish police response to it, which saw batons and rubber bullets used to prevent people voting. Hundreds were injured, in scenes that brought international condemnation.

Catalans came out onto the streets on Tuesday to condemn the police action, shutting down traffic, public transport and businesses, and stoking fears about intensifying unrest in a region that makes up one-fifth of the Spanish economy.

Road closures related to the protests briefly halted production at Volkswagen’s Catalonia plant. Stoppages also affected production at Nestle’s instant coffee plant in Girona.

“As a businessman, as a Spaniard and as a person, I am very worried and I am scared by what’s going on (in Catalonia),” said Juan Roig, chairman of Spain’s biggest food retailer Mercadona.

“IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR”

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a conservative who has taken a hard line on Catalan independence faces a huge challenge to see off the issue without further unrest and potential damage to his minority government.

Pro-independence parties which control the regional government staged the referendum in defiance of a Constitutional Court ruling that the vote violated Spain’s 1978 constitution, which states the country is indivisible.

Catalonia has its own language and culture and a political movement for secession that has strengthened in recent years.

Participants in Sunday’s ballot — only about 43 percent of eligible voters — opted overwhelmingly for independence, a result that was expected since residents who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the referendum.

Outside Catalonia, Spaniards mostly hold strong views against its independence drive. In his televised address, the king said the “irresponsible behavior” of the Catalan leaders had undermined social harmony in the region.

“Today Catalan society is fractured and in conflict,” he said. “They (the Catalan leaders) have infringed the system of legally approved rules with their decisions, showing an unacceptable disloyalty toward the powers of the state.”

The king said the crown was strongly committed to the Spanish constitution and to democracy, and underlined his commitment to the unity and permanence of Spain. He had earlier met Rajoy to discuss the situation in Catalonia.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in the region backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

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Source: Reuters

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The situation has caused massive traffic congestion which is creating chaos as persons with the 2014 UG sticker on their vehicle are being denied entry into the school.

The parents threatened to block the route on Wednesday to protest the GHC 100 cost for the UG stickers which will allow them enter and exit the university to drop off and pick their children.

In an earlier interview with Citi News, the Vice Chairman of the Parent and Teachers Association (PTA) of UPS, Rev. Acheampong Yiadom Boakye denied any such plans by the parents.

This was after the University of Ghana authorities announced they had gotten hint of the planned blockage by the parents and subsequently deployed extra security personnel to man the gate.

There have been ongoing negotiations between the university authorities and the UPS PTA over the price tag for the UG stickers.

The parents are demanding a total reduction of the cost of the GHC 400 UG sticker but the negotiations have reportedly hit a snag.

In the meantime, the university has provided a shuttle bus to transport the school children from the gate to the school but the parents say, they are not happy with the arrangement.

An eye witness, Dela Kofi told Citi News, the situation is very chaotic.

He reported that “the situation is very bad. Those who are coming from Legon, coming out to the GIMPA side and those who are coming from the GIMPA side entering Legon; even if they have a sticker, they too they cannot go.”

“It has caused commotion; serious commotion. No car can move out, no car can come in,” he added.

Some of the angry parents also spoke to Citi News saying, “is it right to pay GHC 100 for every three months to take your child to school? If you have two cars; one person picks your child from school, another also drops him off at school, so you have to pay for all. That GHC 100, they have calculated it for a year because in a year, you have to pay GHC 400.”

Another also said: “Yesterday, the children were not brought back; yet, we will not have access to enter the school from any gate at all to pick our children. Assuming you will put our children back where you have taken them now; the children close at 2:30pm, there are parents who close at 4:00pm.

Others close at 5pm, 6pm and so you will come and put my child where there is no bus stop? As I talk to you now, it is raining so if they happen to be in the rain against oncoming traffic, there is small space for how many children? This thing cannot continue.”

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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