A politically charged trial of a dozen Catalan separatist leaders has started in Spain’s Supreme Court amid protests and the possibility of an early general election being called in the
By Aritz Parra and Joseph Wilson, Associated Press
February 12 2019 8:46 PM
A politically charged trial of a dozen Catalan separatist leaders has started in Spain’s Supreme Court amid protests and the possibility of an early general election being called in the country.
The defendants are being tried on rebellion and other charges stemming from their roles in pushing ahead with a unilateral independence declaration in October 2017.
The declaration was based on the results of a divisive secession referendum that ignored a constitutional ban.
The trial, arguably Spain’s most important in four decades of democracy, started as the future of prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government hinged on a last-minute change of position by Catalan pro-independence parties to back his 2019 budget.
Mr Sanchez could be forced to call an early election if the Catalan separatists, whose support brought the Socialists to power last year, do not change their current position of voting against his spending plan Wednesday.
The separatists want Mr Sanchez to agree to talks on self-determination for their region, but the government argues that Spain’s constitution does not allow it.
Opening the parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Spanish Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero told Catalan politicians that the government would “not give in to any blackmail by anybody”.
“Under no circumstance will we agree to include the right to self-determination in Catalonia in any talking points,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez appeared to put more pressure on his opponents by tweeting that “the right-wing and the separatists will vote against a budget that helps social causes”.
“They both want the same thing: a Catalonia that is divided and a Spain that is divided,” he wrote.
In response, Catalan politicians said that, despite the imminent vote, there was still time for the government to “rectify.”
Tensions between regional and central authorities peaked with the 2017 breakaway attempt but the conflict has been festering ever since.
The 7.5 million residents of Catalonia remain divided by the secession question.
In Barcelona, thousands marched to a central square on Tuesday, demanding independence and criticising Spain’s judiciary.
Some carried signs with the slogan, Self-determination Is Not A Crime.
