Spain’s Supreme court upholds disqualification of Quim Torra
Spain’s Supreme Court has upheld a previous ruling banning Catalonia’s President Quim Torra from holding public office for 18 months for disobedience, a move that could trigger an early election in the wealthy northeastern region.
On Monday, a panel of judges unanimously confirmed a ruling by a lower court last year to disqualify Torra from office for refusing to remove separatist symbols from public buildings during an election campaign.
"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, dismissing Torra’s appeal.
In March 2019, Spanish electoral authorities ordered Torra to remove separatist symbols to respect institutional neutrality ahead of parliamentary elections in April.
They objected in particular to a banner outside the Catalonian regional government headquarters that read "Freedom for political prisoners and exiles" next to a yellow ribbon indicating support for nine detained Catalan separatist leaders who were sentenced in October to lengthy jail terms over an abortive 2017 independence bid.
The Catalan government ignored two deadlines to take the banner down before finally ceding just before a planned police intervention.
Catalonia's High Court of Justice ruled that Torra had displayed a "forceful, repeated and stubborn resistance" to follow the orders of the electoral board which "had been dictated in accordance with the law."
During his one-day trial, Torra told the Barcelona court he did not believe the electoral board had the right to order him to remove the symbols because they are "not higher on the hierarchy than the president" of Catalonia.
He also refused to answer prosecutors' questions and only replied to those from his defense lawyers.
The court ruling at the time set off a wave of angry protests in Barcelona and other Catalan cities that repeatedly descended into violence.
Monday’s verdict means Torra will have to step down, unleashing a fresh political crisis in the region. It was not immediately clear how quickly the disqualification would take effect.
Catalonia's parliament and its regional government are dominated by separatist parties, but the region itself remains deeply divided and the recent ruling will likely exacerbate the split.
The decision may also trigger immediate calls for protest in the region and a snap election could be called in the coming weeks.
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