This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/09/catalan-parliament-speaker-carme-forcadell-due-in-madrid-court-on-sedition-charge

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Catalan parliament speaker appears in court on sedition charge Catalan parliament speaker and four members of governing body bailed
(about 17 hours later)
The speaker of the Catalan parliament and five of its members appeared before Spain’s supreme court in Madrid on Thursday to answer charges of rebellion and sedition over their roles in staging a banned referendum on Catalonia’s independence last month. The speaker of the Catalan parliament and four members of its governing body have been bailed after appearing at Spain’s supreme court to testify over their roles in last month’s banned independence referendum and the subsequent declaration of independence.
The court will decide whether to remand Carme Forcadell and the five MPs in custody while the investigation continues or release them under certain conditions. Forcadell will be transferred to the Alcala Meco prison outside Madrid and kept there until she pays €150,000 (£132,000) bail, court sources said. The four lawmakers must pay bail of €25,000. A fifth member of the governing body was questioned and released without bail.
Eight former members of the Catalan government and the leaders of the two main grassroots pro-independence groups are already in custody awaiting trial on sedition charges for their parts in the 1 October referendum, which Spanish courts ruled illegal. The six, who face possible charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, were questioned on Thursday by Judge Pablo Llarena and two prosecutors.
Lawyers familiar with the proceedings said Forcadell had testified that the independence vote held in the Catalan parliament on 27 October was “declarative and symbolic”, adding the move was intended to minimise her liability if she were charged.
Forcadell and other members of the deposed government had previously insisted that the referendum and its results would be legally binding.
Llarena wrote in his ruling: “All the accused … have expressed that either they renounce future political activity or, those that remain active, will in future renounce any actions outside the constitutional framework.”
His decision to reject prosecutors’ requests to jail them gives the separatists, whose leader Carles Puigdemont went into self-imposed exile in Belgium last week, some breathing space as lower courts have been steadily tightening the legal noose.
Eight former Catalan ministers are already in custody pending investigations by Spain’s top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional – as are the leaders of the two main grassroots pro-independence groups. On Thursday, the high court rejected an appeal presented by their lawyers for their release
Forcadell and the others are being dealt with by the supreme court as they still have parliamentary immunity.
At the end of October, José Manuel Maza announced that he would ask the national court to bring the charges against 14 members of Puigdemont’s administration for pushing ahead with independence in defiance of Spain’s government, its constitution and its constitutional court.
Maza said the charges were being sought “because their actions over the past two years have produced an institutional crisis that culminated with the unilateral declaration of independence made with total contempt for our constitution on 27 October”.
On Monday, Puigdemont hit out at the Spanish authorities, accusing them of waging a “brutal judicial offensive” against members of his ousted government and saying he feared they would not receive an unbiased hearing in Spanish courts.
“Today, the leaders of this democratic project stand accused of rebellion and face the severest punishment possible under the Spanish penal code; the same as for cases of terrorism and murder: 30 years in prison,” he said.
The Spanish government has been in control of Catalonia since 27 October. Less than an hour after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence, the Spanish senate authorised the unprecedented use of article 155 of the constitution, which has allowed the central government to impose direct rule and oversee the region’s finances, police and civil servants.
Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, also used the article to call snap Catalan elections on 21 December. Despite fears that pro-independence parties might boycott the polls, both Puigdemont’s centre-right Catalan Democratic party (PDeCat) and the leftist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) of former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras have said they will participate in the elections.
However, the two parties, which were part of Catalonia’s ruling coalition, are not going to run again on a joint ticket.
Spain’s constitutional court strikes down parts of a 2006 charter on Catalan autonomy that had originally increased the region’s fiscal and judicial powers and described it as a “nation”. The court rules that using the word “nation” has no legal value and also rejects the “preferential” use of Catalan over Spanish in municipal services. Almost two weeks later, hundreds of thousands protest on the streets of Barcelona, chanting “We are a nation! We decide!”Spain’s constitutional court strikes down parts of a 2006 charter on Catalan autonomy that had originally increased the region’s fiscal and judicial powers and described it as a “nation”. The court rules that using the word “nation” has no legal value and also rejects the “preferential” use of Catalan over Spanish in municipal services. Almost two weeks later, hundreds of thousands protest on the streets of Barcelona, chanting “We are a nation! We decide!”
At the height of Spain’s economic crisis, more than a million people protest in Barcelona on Catalonia’s national day, demanding independence in what will become a peaceful, annual show of strength.At the height of Spain’s economic crisis, more than a million people protest in Barcelona on Catalonia’s national day, demanding independence in what will become a peaceful, annual show of strength.
The pro-independence government of Artur Mas defies the Madrid government and Spain’s constitutional court by holding a symbolic vote on independence. Turnout is just 37%, but more than 80% of those who voted - 1.8 million people - vote in favour of Catalan sovereignty.The pro-independence government of Artur Mas defies the Madrid government and Spain’s constitutional court by holding a symbolic vote on independence. Turnout is just 37%, but more than 80% of those who voted - 1.8 million people - vote in favour of Catalan sovereignty.
Carles Puigdemont, who has replaced Mas as regional president, announces an independence referendum will be held on 1 October. Spain’s central government says it will block the referendum using all the legal and political means at its disposal.Carles Puigdemont, who has replaced Mas as regional president, announces an independence referendum will be held on 1 October. Spain’s central government says it will block the referendum using all the legal and political means at its disposal.
The Catalan parliament approves referendum legislation after a heated, 11-hour session that sees 52 opposition MPs walk out of the chamber in Barcelona in protest at the move. Spain’s constitutional court suspends the legislation the following day, but the Catalan government vows to press ahead with the vote.The Catalan parliament approves referendum legislation after a heated, 11-hour session that sees 52 opposition MPs walk out of the chamber in Barcelona in protest at the move. Spain’s constitutional court suspends the legislation the following day, but the Catalan government vows to press ahead with the vote.
Police arrest 14 Catalan government officials suspected of organising the referendum and announce they have seized nearly 10 million ballots destined for the vote. Some 40,000 people protest against the police crackdown in Barcelona and Puigdemont accuses the Spanish government of effectively suspending regional autonomy and declaring a de facto state of emergency.Police arrest 14 Catalan government officials suspected of organising the referendum and announce they have seized nearly 10 million ballots destined for the vote. Some 40,000 people protest against the police crackdown in Barcelona and Puigdemont accuses the Spanish government of effectively suspending regional autonomy and declaring a de facto state of emergency.
Close to 900 people are injured as police attempt to stop the referendum from taking place. The Catalan government says 90% voted for independence on a turnout of 43%. Close to 900 people are injured as police attempt to stop the referendum from taking place. The Catalan government says 90% voted for independence on a turnout of 43%. 
Spanish government takes control of Catalonia and dissolves its parliament after secessionist Catalan MPs voted to establish an independent republic. Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, fires regional president, Carles Puigdemont, and orders regional elections to be held on 21 December.Spanish government takes control of Catalonia and dissolves its parliament after secessionist Catalan MPs voted to establish an independent republic. Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, fires regional president, Carles Puigdemont, and orders regional elections to be held on 21 December.
The region’s deposed president, Carles Puigdemont, and four of his former cabinet ministers went into self-imposed exile in Belgium last week after Madrid responded to Catalonia’s declaration of independence by firing his administration, dissolving the parliament and calling regional elections for December. A poll at the weekend suggested the ERC could overtake its former partner, taking 46-46 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament to the PDeCat’s 14 or 15.
Spain’s high court issued an arrest warrant for for all five last week on sedition and rebellion charges. In order to secure the 68 seats needed for a majority, the two parties would have to turn once again, to the far-left, anti-capitalist CUP, which helped them over the line following the last election in 2015. But the CUP is still deciding whether it will take part in the elections.
Forcadell and the five MPs were summoned last week to the supreme court, which handles cases of people who enjoy parliamentary immunity, but it gave them more time to prepare their defences. The political turmoil has plunged Spain into its worst crisis in 40 years and further divided Catalonia, where people are almost evenly split on the issue of independence.
They are suspected of having followed a “concerted strategy to declare independence” before the official declaration of the Catalan parliament on 27 October, which Spain’s constitutional court annulled on Wednesday in the country’s most serious political crisis in 40 years of democracy. More than 2,000 businesses have shifted their legal headquarters out of the region amid the enduring uncertainty, while a strike on Wednesday caused widespread disruption after pro-independence protesters blocked main roads and railway lines.
Catalonia’s push for independence has divided Spain deeply, fuelling anti-Spanish sentiment in Catalonia and nationalist tendencies elsewhere. On Thursday, the president of the European commission renewed his calls for unity in the face of separatism.
Cracks, however, have appeared in the pro-independence coalition and within Puigdemont’s Democratic Catalan party (PdeCat party). Speaking in the Spanish university city of Salamanca, Jean-Claude Juncker described nationalism as “a poison that prevents Europe from working together”.
Catalan secessionist parties failed to agree on a united ticket to contest the December election on Tuesday, making it more difficult to rule the region after the vote and press ahead with their collective bid to split from Spain. He added: “We cannot stay with our arms crossed because it is time for us to do what needs to be done. I say no to any form of separatism that weakens Europe and further widens the existing fissures.”
Protesters blocked main roads and railway tracks in Catalonia on Wednesday as part of a region-wide strike called by a pro-independence CSC union. Although he has bemoaned the Spanish government’s failure to head off the Catalan crisis, Juncker has refused to intervene, saying any EU action on the issue would only cause “a lot more chaos”.
Spain’s two largest unions did not support the industrial action, but roads including Spain’s export route to France and the rest of Europewere cut in about 60 places causing widespread disruption. Rajoy, who was with Juncker in Salamanca, thanked him for his support “in such difficult times”.
More than 2,000 businesses have moved their headquarters out of Catalonia as the turmoil drags on.
Fresh elections will be held in Catalonia on 21 December, and Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, called on Wednesday for “massive participation” in the vote.
Although the separatists won a majority of seats in 2015, they captured less than half of the votes cast, and polls show Catalans remain split over independence.