Prosecutors ask for jail for Catalan separatists

MADRID - Spain's state prosecutor on Thursday asked a High Court judge to jail Catalan secessionist leaders pending an investigation over their role in the region's illegal push for independence, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Nine members of the sacked Catalan administration testified on Thursday on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds.

The prosecutor recommended one of them, Santi Vila, who stepped down from the Catalan cabinet before a unilateral declaration of independence last week and has since then been pushing for a negotiated solution with the government, should be granted bail of $58,275.

But former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was not among them after he opted to remain in Belgium after traveling there from Barcelona on Sunday.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Puigdemont and his government on Oct 27, hours after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence - a vote boycotted by the opposition and declared illegal by Spanish courts.

Puigdemont said on Wednesday that he would ignore the court order to answer charges over the region's push for independence, but he was ready to testify from Belgium, where he had traveled with four other members of his sacked cabinet.

The courts have already told the Catalan secessionist leaders to deposit $7.2 million by Friday to cover potential liabilities.

Puigdemont said on Tuesday he would only go back to Spain when given unspecified "guarantees" by the central government.

Meanwhile, cracks have appeared within the pro-independence coalition of center-right and far-left parties as well as inside Puigdemont's own PdeCat (Democratic Catalan Party) where some of his allies are now pushing for a negotiated solution with the central government.

The struggle has also divided the Catalonia region and caused deep resentment across the rest of Spain.

Enric Millo, central government's delegate in Catalonia, said on Thursday that he was "convinced" that new elections in the region would put an end to the ongoing crisis.

He said he hopes the new Catalan regional government will "develop its ideas, whatever, their colors, within the current legal framework".

He said the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which suspends the autonomy of Catalonia and hands control of key Catalan institutions to Madrid, will end once the Catalans choose their parliament and this in turn will elect the next president of the region.

"We hope that the new (Catalan) government develops legitimate ideas and objectives, whatever they are, but that they do so within the law," he said.

Xinhua - Reuters - Afp

(China Daily 11/03/2017 page11)