Catalan ex-official testifies:

A former Catalan official accused by Spanish prosecutors of leading a violent rebellion to create an independent republic testified at a top court in Madrid on Thursday that he considers himself “a political prisoner.”

Oriol Junqueras, who was the vice-president of the Catalan Cabinet that went ahead with a banned secession referendum in October 2017, was the first of a dozen separatist leaders to testify in the much anticipated Supreme Court trial.

With ex-Catalan president Carles Puigdemont avoiding prosecution by fleeing to Belgium, Junqueras is the highestranking official prosecuted in the case. He faces up to 25 years behind bars if found guilty for rebellion and misuse of public cal hub Brussels said.

But they said Dublin would soon have to come up with a plan to ensure the integrity of the EU’s single market or face checks on its own goods coming into the rest of the bloc.

“Ireland can get transition periods or some temporary opt-outs on the border in the worst-case scenario,” a senior EU diplomat said.

“But soon enough it will have to face up to the fact that either there is a border on the island or a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU,” the person added. (RTRS)