{"id":412690,"date":"2018-03-24T14:36:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T14:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=412690"},"modified":"2018-03-24T14:36:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T14:36:29","slug":"clashes-catalan-leaders-detained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/clashes-catalan-leaders-detained\/","title":{"rendered":"Clashes after Catalan leaders detained"},"content":{"rendered":"
Crowds of protesters in Spain’s Catalonia region have clashed with police after the Supreme Court stepped up legal action against separatists.<\/p>\n
Spain’s Supreme Court ruled 25 Catalan leaders should be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state.<\/p>\n
Convictions could result in up to 30 years in prison.<\/p>\n
More than 20 people were injured as police used riot batons to keep protesters away from federal buildings in Barcelona on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Demonstrations also took place in other parts of Catalonia.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Other separatist figures were already in custody or had gone into exile abroad.<\/p>\n
What happened in the protests?<\/strong><\/p>\n Friday night’s rallies had been organised by a separatist group before the court decisions were announced.<\/p>\n But the rulings appeared to inflame the protesters and angry crowds confronted lines of riot police protecting Spanish government buildings in Barcelona.<\/p>\n They waved flags and chanted independence slogans while some burned pictures of the Supreme Court judge and of Spain’s King Felipe.<\/p>\n Tensions spilled over into violence as some protesters tried to break through police lines.<\/p>\n