Trial of Catalan leaders begins
MADRID: A sensitive trial against a dozen Catalan separatist politicians and activists got underway on Tuesday in Spain’s Supreme Court amid protests by pro-independence supporters and a highly volatile political environment.
The defendants are being tried on rebellion and other charges stemming from their roles in pushing ahead with a unilateral independence declaration in October 2017. The declaration was based on the results of a divisive secession referendum that ignored a constitutional ban.
The trial, arguably Spain’s most important in four decades of democracy, began as the future of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government hinges on last-minute negotiations with Catalan pro-independence parties to back his 2019 budget.
Sanchez could be forced to call an early election if the Catalan separatists, whose support brought the Socialists to power last year, don’t change their current position of voting against the prime minister’s spending plan on Wednesday. A debate in the parliament’s lower house began on Tuesday.
The separatists want Sanchez to agree to talks on self-determination for their region, but the government argues that the country’s constitution doesn’t allow it.
Tensions between regional and central authorities peaked with the 2017 breakaway attempt but the conflict has been festering ever since. The 7.5 million residents of Catalonia remain divided by the secession question. AP