| schema:articleBody
| - Spain's top court on Monday upheld a court ruling disqualifying Catalan separatist president Quim Torra from office for disobedience, a ruling that could revive tensions in the wealthy northeastern region. The decision by Spain's Supreme Court means Torra will have to stand down, unleashing a fresh political crisis as Catalonia's regional government struggles to contain a surge in coronavirus infections in a badly-hit area of Spain. In a statement, Catalonia's high court, which convicted Torra in December, said the disqualification would be effective immediately with his deputy, Pere Aragones, to take over as interim regional chief. Aragones is from a different, more moderate separatist party. Catalonia's regional parliament will now have to choose a new president but if, as expected, the independence factions fail to agree on a name, it will trigger fresh elections in the region early next year. Torra criticised the ruling, saying it would create instability during the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and urged Catalans to once again give pro-independence parties a majority when they return to the polls "in a few months". "Their thirst for vengeance is stronger than their respect for the health and lives of people," he said in a televised address where he appeared flanked by his ministers wearing face masks. "The choice is clear. You have to choose between democracy and freedom or repression and imposition. A Catalan republic grounded in civil engagement or a Spanish monarchy defined by armed forced and flags," he added in both Catalan and English. Within minutes of the Supreme Court ruling, activists from the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium Cultural, the two biggest grassroots pro-independence groups, called for a series of regional protests starting on Monday evening. Omnium Cultural accused the Spanish government in a tweet of waging a "dirty war against independence". FC Barcelona also weighed in, calling the ruling "disproportionate" in a statement. The sentence disqualifies Torra, 57, from holding office for 18 months, however he had been allowed to remain in power during the appeal process. The court also fined him 30,000 euros ($35,000). Torra, who in the past expressed anti-Spanish views that his critics call xenophobic, said he would appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights "which is the only place where Catalan pro-independence activists can find justice". He was convicted for refusing to remove a banner with separatist slogans from his government's headquarters in the run-up to the April 2019 general election, despite repeated appeals by the Spanish election board on grounds that it flouted institutional neutrality. "He repeatedly and stubbornly disobeyed the orders of the Central Electoral Board to remove certain symbols from public buildings belonging to the Generalitat (regional government) during the electoral process," the judges found in a unanimous ruling, throwing out Torra's appeal. Monday's ruling is likely to exacerbate a bitter dispute within the region's deeply-divided separatist ruling coalition which comprises Torra's hardline Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) and its partner the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). The decision also complicates the picture for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who heads a minority leftwing coalition and had been hoping to secure the support of Catalan separatist lawmakers to push through the upcoming budget. Catalonia's 7.5 million people are split over independence, with the latest opinion poll showing 42 percent in favour but 50 percent against. dbh/hmw-ds/erc
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)