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GUILTY: Catalan leaders handed jail terms for sedition over failed independence bid

The Local Spain/AFP
The Local Spain/AFP - [email protected]
GUILTY: Catalan leaders handed jail terms for sedition over failed independence bid
In this file photo taken on February 12, 2019 Former Catalan separatist leaders including (from front row R-L) Oriol Junqueras, Raul Romeva, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Sanchez, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Jord

Spain's Supreme Court on Monday sentenced nine Catalan leaders to prison terms ranging from nine to 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds for their role in a failed 2017 independence bid.

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The sentences were lower than demanded by the prosecution which had sought up to 25 years behind bars for former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras.    

"The Supreme Court has condemned Oriel Junqueras to 13 years of prison... on grounds of sedition and the misuse of public funds," the ruling said, handing 12 years to three other former regional ministers.

Tension has been mounting steadily ahead of the ruling with police sending reinforcements to Catalonia where separatists have pledged a mass response of civil disobedience, calling for rallies, roadblocks and a general strike.

The 12 defendants, most of them members of the former Catalan government, were on trial for their role in the banned October 1st referendum and the short-lived independence declaration that followed it.

"The Supreme Court condemns Oriel Junqueras to 13 years of prison... on grounds of sedition and the misuse of public funds," the ruling said, handing 12 years to three other former regional ministers.

Former parliamentary speaker Carme Forcadell was handed 11 years and six months in jail, while two influential Catalan civic leaders, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, were sentenced to nine years prison.

Only three of the 12 leaders, who faced lesser charges, escaped jail time and were handed a fine.

Junqueras served as the main defendant after his boss, Puigdemont, fled to Belgium.

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This combination of file pictures created on October 26, 2018 shows jailed Catalan separatist leaders (TOP L-R) Raul Romeva, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Turull, Oriol Junqueras, Josep Rull (BOTTOM L-R) Jordi Cuixart, Carme Forcadell, Dolors Bassa and Jordi Sanchez. AFP

Following a high-profile trial which ended in June, judges at Spain's highest court issued their decision on charges ranging from rebellion and sedition to disobedience and misappropriation of funds.   

Former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras is the main defendant after his boss, Carles Puigdemont, fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution.   

The government is hoping the long-awaited ruling will allow it to turn the page on the crisis in this wealthy northeastern region where support for independence has been gaining momentum over the past decade.

But the separatist movement is hoping for just the opposite: that the anticipated guilty verdicts will unite their divided ranks and bring supporters onto the streets.

Activists gear up to protest

Activists from the region's two biggest grassroots pro-independence groups, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium Cultural, have urged followers to rally on the evening of the verdict.

And in the following days, demonstrators will march from five towns towards Barcelona where they will congregate on Friday, when a general strike has been called.

Activists from the radical CDR (Committees for the Defence of the Republic), have also promised "surprises". On Sunday they briefly occupied the main train station in Barcelona before cutting traffic on a main avenue of the
city.   

Anti-riot police have been discreetly deployed to Catalonia, but the interior ministry has refused to give numbers.

For many, the situation has brought back memories of tensions in the street in the run-up to the October 1st referendum which was marred by police violence, and ahead of the short-lived independence declaration of October 27th.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made it clear that his government will not tolerate any violence, warning he will not hesitate to renew a suspension of Catalan autonomy as happened two years ago.

The situation is worrying the main Catalan business lobby which said although the verdict would have a "significant emotional impact", it was important the response avoided disrupting "business activity or social
cohesion".

Sedition not rebellion 

The court is widely reported in the media to have chosen to sentence them for sedition and not rebellion, which carries a far heavier sentence.    

By definition, rebellion is "rising up in a violent and public manner" to, among other things, "declare independence for part of the (Spanish) territory".   

Sedition, however, is "rising up publicly and in turbulent fashion" to "prevent by force or in an illegal way" the law from being applied, or the application of an administrative or legal decision.

The trial comes just weeks before Spain heads to the polls for its fourth election in as many years, putting the Catalan question once more at the centre of the political debate.

Although Sanchez's government is hoping the trial's end might give fresh impetus to dialogue, Junqueras' leftwing ERC party has said it would not be possible without an "amnesty" for "political prisoners and those in exile".

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