Jailed Catalan leader on hunger strike taken to hospital

MADRID: A jailed Catalan separatist leader on hunger strike for two weeks has been hospitalised in the prison where he is held on rebellion charges, his doctor said on Friday.

Jordi Turull, former spokesman for the regional Catalan government of Carles Puigdemont, began a hunger strike on December 1 in Lledoners prison north of Barcelona.

Turull and other Catalan leaders are in custody pending a trial on charges ranging from sedition to rebellion after they attempted to break away from Spain in 2017 by staging a referendum.

Turull and another leader Jordi Sanchez began a hunger strike to protest what they said was a Constitutional Court block of their attempted appeal against their provisional detention. — AFP