Catalan separatists face trial

THE TRIAL of 12 Catalan separatist leaders involved in a bid to secede from Spain that plunged the country into crisis starts on Tuesday under intense scrutiny and controversy.

Expected to last three months, the trial is due to be broadcast live on television from the Supreme Court in Madrid where 600 journalists from 150 domestic and foreign media are accredited.

It is divisive -- a “farce” according to independence supporters in Catalonia -- but necessary for many Spaniards who looked on in disbelief as the rich region’s then executive tried to break from the country in October 2017.

Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s former president who fled to Belgium days after a short-lived declaration of independence on October 27, is not among the 12 defendants.

Spain does not try suspects in absentia for major offenses.

The trial’s main protagonist is therefore former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras, who opted to remain in Spain. He faces up to 25 years in jail on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds.

Others in the dock include members of Catalonia’s then executive or regional parliament as well as the two leaders of powerful pro-independence associations, ANC and Omnium Cultural.

Nine have been charged with rebellion, with some also accused of misuse of public funds. These have all been in pre-trial detention for months, some of them for more than a year.

The three others are accused of disobedience and misuse of public funds.

Their role in holding a banned independence referendum on October 1, 2017, which was marred by police violence, and in the subsequent independence declaration will be closely scrutinized.