Former Catalunya president to stand trial over 2014 independence poll
The high court of the region of Catalunya confirmed on Thursday that
Artur Mas, the former president of the regional government, will stand
trial for allegedly disobeying the national Constitutional Court and
organizing 
the informal independence consultation vote on 9th November 2014.
In a week when there has already been considerable tension between Catalan separatists and the national authorities of Spain, with the Town Hall of Badalona making a defiant and highly publicized gesture and failing to observe the national holiday on Wednesday, this decision will certainly do nothing to calm matters down. Ever since the vote was held almost two years ago the possibility of Sr Mas being taken to court has been weighed up, and it has now been decided that this is the right cause of action despite the risk that it could backfire and convert the former president into a martyr for the separatist cause.
The public prosecutor’s office in Catalunya has at least stopped short of proposing a prison sentence for Sr Mas and his two advisers Irene Rigau and Joana Ortega, but if found guilty he could be disqualified from public service and from standing for public office for 10 years (9 years in the cases of Sra Rigau and Sra Ortega).
Ostensibly the vote in 2014 was run by volunteers, but the court of Catalunya believes there is sufficient evidence to prove that this was merely a ruse to bypass legal restrictions and Sr Mas failed to prevent the recruitment of those volunteers, thus misusing his position and deliberately disobeying the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
In January of this year Artur Mas stood down as president in order to allow Carles Puigdemont to form a governing alliance with the CUP party in the regional parliament, but he remains a figure of great importance in Catalan politics as the president of the party formerly known as Convergencia, which is currently undergoing a name change.
Sr Mas was not immediately available for comment on Thursday, but Sr Puigdemont warned that there will be “consequences” of the decision to bring his predecessor to trial, and although he did not specify what these consequences might be he went so far as to say they would not be limited to the issuing of a press release.
He also expressed his anger at a decision he described as “erroneous” but “predictable”, going on to vent his frustration at the Spanish government’s policy of resorting to the courts rather than using what he referred to as more democratic means.
Source: http://spanishnewstoday.com/former-catalunya-president-to-stand-trial-over-2014-independence-poll_81172-a.html
the informal independence consultation vote on 9th November 2014.In a week when there has already been considerable tension between Catalan separatists and the national authorities of Spain, with the Town Hall of Badalona making a defiant and highly publicized gesture and failing to observe the national holiday on Wednesday, this decision will certainly do nothing to calm matters down. Ever since the vote was held almost two years ago the possibility of Sr Mas being taken to court has been weighed up, and it has now been decided that this is the right cause of action despite the risk that it could backfire and convert the former president into a martyr for the separatist cause.
The public prosecutor’s office in Catalunya has at least stopped short of proposing a prison sentence for Sr Mas and his two advisers Irene Rigau and Joana Ortega, but if found guilty he could be disqualified from public service and from standing for public office for 10 years (9 years in the cases of Sra Rigau and Sra Ortega).
Ostensibly the vote in 2014 was run by volunteers, but the court of Catalunya believes there is sufficient evidence to prove that this was merely a ruse to bypass legal restrictions and Sr Mas failed to prevent the recruitment of those volunteers, thus misusing his position and deliberately disobeying the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
In January of this year Artur Mas stood down as president in order to allow Carles Puigdemont to form a governing alliance with the CUP party in the regional parliament, but he remains a figure of great importance in Catalan politics as the president of the party formerly known as Convergencia, which is currently undergoing a name change.
Sr Mas was not immediately available for comment on Thursday, but Sr Puigdemont warned that there will be “consequences” of the decision to bring his predecessor to trial, and although he did not specify what these consequences might be he went so far as to say they would not be limited to the issuing of a press release.
He also expressed his anger at a decision he described as “erroneous” but “predictable”, going on to vent his frustration at the Spanish government’s policy of resorting to the courts rather than using what he referred to as more democratic means.
Source: http://spanishnewstoday.com/former-catalunya-president-to-stand-trial-over-2014-independence-poll_81172-a.html
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