Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 18 OctOber 2017
Catalans protest sedition case, court declares vote illegal

ruling was not a surprise. pendence rallies ahead of
The Spanish government the vote.
had repeatedly insisted “We are facing an execu-
the referendum was ille- tive power in the state that
gal. Regional leaders de- uses the judiciary branch
fied the Madrid-based to block the legislative,”
central government and Catalan government
held the Oct. 1 vote even spokesman Jordi Turull told
after police seized millions reporters shortly after the
of ballots and used force Constitutional Court ruling
to close polling stations. was announced.
Supporters of secession Catalan President Carles
maintain the “Yes” vote Puigdemont made an am-
won and Catalan officials biguous statement about
have a mandate to de- the region’s future last
clare independence. week, saying he has the
Portraying the central mandate to declare in-
government as repressive, dependence but adding
they showed no signs of that he would not immedi-
giving up despite the court ately move to implement
ruling that concluded the it in order to allow time for
Holding candles, people march on one of the city’s main avenues to protest against the National
Court’s decision to imprison civil society leaders without bail, in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Oct. 17, referendum was invalid. talks with the central gov-
2017. Spain’s top court also ruled Tuesday that a recent independence referendum in Catalonia Thousands of people hold- ernment.
was unconstitutional, a day after a Madrid judge provisionally jailed two Catalan independence ing candles and banners Spain has said that no dia-
leaders, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, in a sedition probe. flooded a main avenue logue can take place with
(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) in Barcelona on Tuesday independence on the ta-
By ARITZ PARRA pendence referendum in rest of the country but not night to demand the re- ble because a reform of
CIARAN GILES Catalonia was unconsti- persuading demonstrators lease of the two Catalan the country’s Constitution
Associated Press tutional, adding weight demanding the release of activists jailed by Spanish with an ample majority in
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) to government efforts two jailed separatist activ- authorities a day earlier on the national parliament
— Spain’s top court ruled to block the region from ists. possible sedition charges is the only legal way to
Tuesday that an inde- breaking away from the The Constitutional Court’s for organizing pro-inde- achieve secession.q

Foreign experts to help Malta investigate reporter’s killing

Associated Press rived in Malta on Tuesday nalist who scrutinized the
VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A to help investigate the car country’s top politicians
Dutch forensic team ar- bomb slaying of a jour- and other powerful figures,
an official said, as angry
Maltese demanded the
truth about who killed the
anti-corruption crusader.
Maltese Home Minister Mi-
chael Farrugia said that
FBI agents will also be sent
to the Mediterranean is-
land in the coming days to
assist police in Monday’s
killing of Daphne Caruana
Galizia, 53, who exposed
Maltese links to offshore The wreckage of the car of investigative journalist Daphne
tax havens through the Caruana Galizia lies next to a road in the town of Mosta, Malta,
Panama Paper leaks. Monday, Oct. 16, 2017.
“My mother was assassi- (AP Photo/Rene Rossignaud)
nated because she stood landing as a fiery hulk in a sorry, there is nothing we
between the rule of law field, right after she left her can do,’ one of them said.
and those who sought to home Monday afternoon. I looked down and there
violate it, like many strong Her son Matthew, who were my mother’s body
journalists,” her son, Mat- was part of a Pulitzer-Prize- parts all around me,” he
thew Caruana Galizia, winning consortium be- recounted.
himself an investigative hind the Panama Papers One of the topics she
journalist, wrote on Face- leaks, wrote: “I am never probed grew out of rev-
book. “But she was also going to forget, running elations from the 2016
targeted because she around the inferno in the Panama Papers leak. She
was the only person doing field, trying to figure out a wrote that the wife of
so. This is what happens way to open the door, the Prime Minister Joseph Mus-
when the institutions of the horn of the car still blaring, cat, the country’s energy
state are incapacitated.” screaming at two police- minister and the govern-
It was unclear who might men who showed up with ment’s chief of staff had
have engineered the a single fire extinguisher to offshore holdings in Pana-
bombing. Her car explod- use it.” ma to receive money from
ed, spinning in the air and “They stared at me. ‘I’m Azerbaijan.q