Spain sends two Catalan independence leaders to prison as tensions rise
TWO prominent Catalan independence leaders were last night sent to prison by Spain’s National Court while they are investigated for alleged crimes of sedition.
Jordi Sanchez of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), and Jordi Cuixart of Omnium Cultural are being investigated for their role in protests against police in the run-up to the banned independence vote. The two men have been accused of leading a tense night of protests in Barcelona on Sept 20, as police carried out sweeping raids and arrested several Catalan officials.
Mr Cuixart and Mr Sanchez will now be held without bail while they are investigated on the charges, which carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Omnium immediately condemned the ruling as “intolerable in a democratic society” while the Catalan government said the men has been punished “for calling a protest”. Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president, said: “They intend to imprison ideas but instead strengthen our need for freedom.”
Omnium and the ANC called for protests for today outside Spanish govern- ment delegations in four cities.
The rulings capped a day of rising political tensions as Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish Prime Minister set a deadline of 10am local time yesterday for the Catalan leader to clarify whether or not the region had made a unilateral declaration of independence last week. The Catalan president responded with a letter that did not directly answer the question but instead stressed a mandate for independence.
The Spanish government had made clear that anything less than a clear “No” would set in motion Article 155, a never-used constitutional tool allowing it to effectively suspend autonomous powers. That is now set to be applied on Friday.