Protests after Catalan separatist leaders jailed for independence bid
● Riot police and demonstrators clash at airport
Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced 12 prominent former Catalan politicians and activists yesterday to long prison terms for their roles in a 2017 bid to gain independence for Catalonia, sparking protests across the Spanish region.
The landmark ruling, after a four-month trial, inflamed independence supporters in the region bordering France.
Within hours, police in riot gear clashed with protesters at Barcelona’s airport. Police used batons to drive back a crowd near the entrance to the subway inside the airport’s main terminal.
The subway line to the airport was closed on police orders. The protests disrupted traffic along airport access roads.
Nine of the Catalans on trial for their efforts to achieve independence received between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition.
Four of them were additionally convicted for misuse of public funds, and three more were fined for disobedience.
The Spanish constitution states that the country cannot be divided.
Spain’s caretaker Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said he hoped the sentences would mark a watershed in the long dispute between national authorities in Madrid and separatists in the Catalan capital Barcelona.
He said the court’s verdict proved the 2017 secession attempt had become “a shipwreck”. Mr Sanchez urged people to “set aside extremist positions” and “embark on a new phase” for Catalonia.
Authorities will respond firmly to any attempt to break the law, Mr Sanchez said in a live television address, as thousands joined protest marches. Some demonstrators held banners which read: “Free political prisoners”.
At the centre of the prosecutors’ case was the independence referendum on 1 October, 2017, that the Catalan
Spain’s caretaker Prime Minister government held even though the country’s highest court had disallowed it.
The Yes vote won but, because it was an illegal ballot, most voters didn’t turn out. The Catalan parliament unilaterally declared independence three weeks later, triggering the political crisis.
The separatist effort fell flat when it won no international recognition, and the Spanish government sacked the regional administration.
Defence lawyers claimed that the leaders of the secessionist movement were carrying out the will of roughly half of the 7.5 million residents of Catalonia who, opinion polls indicate, would like the region to be a separate country.
Catalan nationalists have long complained that their region sends too much money to poorer parts of Spain, as taxes are controlled by Madrid.
A new arrest warrant was also issued for former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who fled abroad.
Verdict proves the secession attempt had become “a shipwreck”. People should “set aside extremist positions” and “embark on a new phase” for Catalonia
PEDRO SANCHEZ