Page 8 - AT

A8 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 15 OcTOber 2019
Protests erupt as Spain convicts leading Catalan separatists

By JOSEPH WILSON Carles Puigdemont, who
CIARAN GILES fled to Belgium in October
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — 2017 with several others
Riot police engaged in a when they were summoned
running battle with angry to appear in court, said the
protesters outside Barce- upcoming general election
lona's airport Monday after is an opportunity to show "a
Spain's Supreme Court con- massive response of rejec-
victed 12 separatist leaders tion" for the court's verdict
of illegally promoting the and the "dignity and firm-
wealthy Catalonia region's ness" of the Catalan inde-
independence and sen- pendence movements.
tenced nine of them to Puigdemont spoke in Brus-
prison. sels hours after a Spanish
Officers fired foam bullets Supreme Court judge is-
and used batons against sued an international war-
thousands of protesters rant for his arrest.
who converged on the Andrew Dowling, an expert
airport after the verdict on contemporary Spanish
was announced in Madrid. politics at Cardiff University
Protesters fought back by in Wales, said the sentenc-
throwing objects, spraying es are "going to make a
dark clouds with fire extin- Protestors make a barricade during clashes with police outside El Prat airport in Barcelona, Spain, bad situation worse."
guishers, and breaking win- Monday, Oct. 14, 2019. "It's going to create a ter-
dows during clashes that Associated Press rible wound in Catalan so-
lasted into the night. ciety until these people are
Regional emergency ser- Nine of the 12 Catalan poli- rebellion, which implied the "set aside extremist posi- released," he said by tele-
vice SEM said 75 people ticians and activists were use of violence, brought by tions" and "embark on a phone.
were treated for injuries at found guilty of sedition state prosecutors and law- new phase" for Catalonia. Catalan identity is a pas-
Josep Tarradellas Barcelo- and given prison sentenc- yers for the far-right Spanish He said he hoped the pris- sionate issue in the north-
na-El Prat Airport. Spain's es of nine to 13 years. Four party Vox. Vox leader San- on sentences would mark eastern region bordering
airport operator, AENA, of them were addition- taigo Abascal criticized the a turning point in the long France, but elsewhere it
said at least 108 flights were ally convicted of misuse of verdict as too light. standoff between national has failed to capture the
canceled. public funds. Spain's caretaker prime authorities and separatist public imagination and,
Police also clashed with The other three were fined minister, Pedro Sánchez, lawmakers in Barcelona, crucially, lacked interna-
angry crowds late Monday for disobedience. The court said the outcome of the the Catalonia region's cap- tional support.
night in downtown Barcelo- barred all of them from four-month trial proved the ital. At the center of the pros-
na. They used batons, and holding public office. 2017 secession attempt Tempers flared after the Su- ecutors' case was an Oct.
sounds similar to the firing All 12 were acquitted on had become "a shipwreck." preme Court issued its deci- 1, 2017 independence ref-
projectiles were heard. the more serious charge of Sánchez urged people to sion in Madrid, with seces- erendum that the Cata-
sionists taking to the streets, lan government held even
EU moves closer to confirmation of first halting some trains by plac- though the country's high-
ing burning tires and wood est court had prohibited
chief prosecutor on tracks, and blocking the vote.
roads as well as the airport The "yes" side won, but be-
entrance. cause it was an illegal bal-
criticism from the Roma- After he was sentenced to lot most voters didn't turn
nian government, will lead 13 years imprisonment, for- out and the vote count
the EU Public Prosecutor's mer regional vice president was considered of dubious
Office, scheduled to be- Oriol Junqueras declared value. The Catalan Parlia-
gin operating in November that achieving indepen- ment, however, unilaterally
2020. dence for Catalonia was declared independence
So far, 22 of 28 EU coun- "today closer than ever be- three weeks later, trigger-
tries have joined the of- fore." ing Spain's worst political
fice, which will investigate But the Catalan separatist crisis in decades.
matters like corruption movement is going through The Spanish government
and cross-border tax fraud its most difficult period in stepped in and fired the
above 10 million euros ($ 11 years. With a general elec- Catalan regional govern-
million). tion scheduled for Nov. 10, ment, with prosecutors lat-
Kovesi is slated to be con- its most charismatic leaders er bringing charges.
firmed by the European are behind bars or abroad Catalonia has authority to
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, Laura Codruta Kove- Parliament, her appoint- after fleeing to avoid pros- run its own prisons, unlike
si, Romania's former chief anti-corruption prosecutor who will ecution. the rest of Spain's regions.
direct the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) - speaks ment's final step. The convicted Catalan That means regional au-
during an interview with the Associated Press, in Bucharest, Ro- Kovesi, who faced intimi-
mania. dation and pressures in leaders - most of whom thorities can allow inmates
Associated Press Romania, where her anti- were kept in custody on to spend the night in pris-
corruption office indicted grounds of a flight risk for on Monday-Thursday and
Associated Press druta Kovesi as the first Eu- 14 Cabinet member and nearly two years before the have the rest of the time
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Eu- ropean chief prosecutor. 53 lawmakers, told The As- verdict - have grown into at home. Such a step for
ropean Union's member Kovesi, whose anti-corrup- sociated Press last week powerful symbols for the those convicted Monday
states have agreed to ap- tion efforts in Romania won that "no matter what the separatists. is open to legal challenges,
point Romania's Laura Co- her plaudits from the EU but pressure, I will do my job."q Former regional president however.q