Catalan parliament speaker in court over independence bid

MADRID: The speaker of Catalonia’s sacked parliament appeared before Spain’s Supreme Court yesterday in the latest legal case brought against separatist leaders for their role in the region’s divisive independence bid, reports AFP. A judge may decide to detain Carme Forcadell and five former lawmakers on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds after Catalan lawmakers voted last month to split from Spain.

They are suspected of having followed a “concerted strategy to declare independence”, before the official declaration of the Catalan parliament on October 27, deepening Spain’s most serious political crisis in decades.

That declaration was annulled Wednesday by Spain’s Constitutional Court. The Catalan crisis has prompted hundreds of businesses to re-register outside the wealthy northeastern region and caused disquiet in a European Union still dealing with Britain’s shock decision to leave.

On Wednesday a general strike called in Catalonia by a pro-independence union caused widespread travel chaos, cutting Spain’s main highway link to France and the rest of Europe and disrupting trains from Barcelona to Paris, Marseille and Lyon.

Authorities said around 150,000 people were affected. Despite the blockages, the walkout was however on a far smaller scale than previous strikes in the region.

Encouraged by their charismatic leader Carles Puigdemont, Catalan leaders voted to declare unilateral independence from Spain after going ahead with a banned referendum on October 1. Separatists said 90 percent of voters opted for independence but critics counter that pro-unity supporters boycotted a plebiscite that violated Spain’s constitution.

Catalan parliament speaker in court over independence bid

MADRID: The speaker of Catalonias sacked parliament appeared before Spains Supreme Court yesterday in the latest legal case brought against separatist leaders for their role in the regions divisive independence bid, reports AFP. A judge may decide to detain Carme Forcadell and five former lawmakers on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds after Catalan lawmakers voted last month to split from Spain. They are suspected of having followed a concerted strategy to declare independence, before the official declaration of the Catalan parliament on October 27, deepening Spains most serious political crisis in decades. That declaration was annulled Wednesday by Spains Constitutional Court. The Catalan crisis has prompted hundreds of businesses to re-register outside the wealthy northeastern region and caused disquiet in a European Union still dealing with Britains shock decision to leave. On Wednesday a general strike called in Catalonia by a pro-independence union caused widespread travel chaos, cutting Spains main highway link to France and the rest of Europe and disrupting trains from Barcelona to Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Authorities said around 150,000 people were affected. Despite the blockages, the walkout was however on a far smaller scale than previous strikes in the region. Encouraged by their charismatic leader Carles Puigdemont, Catalan leaders voted to declare unilateral independence from Spain after going ahead with a banned referendum on October 1. Separatists said 90 percent of voters opted for independence but critics counter that pro-unity supporters boycotted a plebiscite that violated Spains constitution.