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WORLD NEWS Saturday 17 december 2016

Catalan leader mulls early vote on break with Spain

ARITZ PARRA cession motion this year.
JOSEPH WILSON A thousand Catalan pro-
Associated Press independence supporters,
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — including Puigdemont and
Separatist leaders in Cata- hundreds of town mayors,
lonia plan to seek Spanish turned out Friday to sup-
government support for a port Forcadell. Waving
referendum on the region’s pro-independence flags
independence, but a lack and chanting slogans, the
of consent from Madrid will crowd accompanied her
not stop them from staging from the local parliament
the vote, the president of to a nearby regional court.
the regional government Other officials, including
said Friday. a former president of the
Carles Puigdemont, Cata- region, Artur Mas, have
lonia’s pro-independence also been questioned or
leader, told The Associated are being called to tes-
Press in an interview that he tify for organizing votes in
may seek to push forward and outside of parliament
his original plan to hold a about Catalonia’s future
binding vote in Septem- within Spain.
ber 2017. “We would need Spanish Prime Minister Mari-
to have everything ready, ano Rajoy recently put his
but it could be earlier, of second-in-command of Catalonia’s regional president, Carles Puigdemont speaks during an interview with The Associ-
course,” Puigdemont said, his newly-formed govern- ated Press in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. Puigdemont plans to go ahead with a
new referendum on independence by September despite a ruling by Spain’s Constitutional Court
when asked if his govern- ment, Soraya Saez de San- banning the vote.
ment would hasten the tamaria, in charge of thaw- (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
timetable to prevent the ing relations with the Cata-
referendum from becom- lans, but both sides blames lution expressing its intent tack separatist lawmakers, Polls consistently show that
ing mired in legal and po- each other for the lack of to press ahead with seces- but Spanish government Catalonia’s 7.5 million resi-
litical proceedings. “The formal negotiations. sion. spokesman Inigo Mendez dents are roughly equally
welfare of Catalonia is only Friday’s display of support “I made clear that no court de Vigo said Friday “in divided on breaking from
possible outside of Spain.” for Forcadell was aimed, can stop the parliament Spain the justice system Spain, although a vast ma-
Spain’s constitution doesn’t partially, at putting pres- from debating indepen- is independent and does jority supports a vote.
permit a referendum or the sure on Madrid. dence or any other issue not respond to any type of Separatist sentiment be-
secession of a region. Ear- A leading figure in the in- that affects the people of pressure.” gan to swell five years ago
lier Friday, Catalonia Parlia- dependence movement, this country,” she said after “Nobody can have a blank at the height of Spain’s
ment Speaker Carme For- Forcadell is accused of answering a judge’s ques- check to disobey laws and economic crisis as seces-
cadell appeared before disobeying Spain’s Consti- tions for half an hour. act with impunity, and sionists claimed Catalonia
a judge to be questioned tutional Court by recently Catalan authorities accuse much less so when they are paid more in taxes than the
about allowing the body’s allowing the regional Par- the Spanish government holding public office,” the region received back in
lawmakers to debate a se- liament to approve a reso- of using the courts to at- spokesman added. investments.q
2 ex-UK soldiers face murder charges in 1972 Belfast killing

S. POGATCHNIK soldiers who opened fire on city, Londonderry. McCann’s slaying had their tectives continue to re-
Associated Press 25-year-old Joe McCann, But a 2012 fact-finding re- names concealed Friday examine records of more
DUBLIN (AP) — Two retired a commander of the out- port by a cold-case unit to protect them from po- than 3,000 unsolved killings.
British soldiers who fatally lawed Official IRA faction. found that the soldiers had tential retaliation and were Charges are expected, in
shot an unarmed Irish Re- The initial police probe used unjustified lethal force identified only as Soldier A, particular, against former
publican Army member in 1972 found no basis to against an unarmed man 67, and Soldier C, 65. Parachute Regiment sol-
outside his Belfast home in charge any of the soldiers running away from them. It British soldiers committed diers who opened fire on
1972 will be prosecuted for who fired at McCann in also concluded that inves- more than 300 of the near- unarmed protesters on Jan.
murder in a rare case of its the Markets district, an Of- tigators never interviewed ly 3,700 slayings during four 30, 1972, killing 13 people in
kind, Northern Ireland au- ficial IRA power base dur- key witnesses, including decades of Northern Ire- what became known as
thorities announced Friday. ing what was the bloodiest undercover officers tailing land strife, but rarely have Bloody Sunday.
The Public Prosecution year of the entire Northern McCann at the time. been charged with mur- The lawyer representing
Service in Belfast said in Ireland conflict. Northern Ireland Attorney der. the McCann family, Kevin
a statement that “all the His death provoked days of General John Larkin re- The most recent conviction Winters, said Friday’s deci-
available evidence” mer- rioting in Irish nationalist ar- ferred the findings to pros- was in 1993. sion offers “some measure
its murder charges against eas of Belfast and Northern ecutors in 2014. That could change as of justice after all these
two Parachute Regiment Ireland’s second-largest The two men charged in teams of cold-case de- years.”q