Spain Court rejects appeal to free Catalan ministers

Spain’s High Court rejected appeal to free ministers of self-proclaimed Catalan Republic, jailed in aftermath of Madrid invoking Article 155 of the Constitution against the decision of Catalan Parliament to declare independence based on the results of the referendum #1Oct.

#BREAKING Spain's National Court rejects appeal to free eight jailed Catalan ministers, they remain in prison pic.twitter.com/4PBx5paSuQ

— Catalan News (@catalannews) November 9, 2017

Spain’s high court has ordered eight former ministers from Catalonia’s dissolved government to be detained without bail, while the state prosecutor sought a Europe-wide arrest warrant for oust leader Carles Puigdemont. The measure argued by the opponents of Madrid, claiming that the elected President can not be fired, but only impeached.

Catalonia lived under Spanish repression, under dictatorships. Our representatives have been prosecuted, forced to exile and executed

— krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) November 7, 2017

Puigdemont left Spain and appeared in Brussels on 30th of October, the same day Spain’s state prosecutor announced he was seeking charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds against him and 13 members of his government.

.@JunckerEU, @EP_President: És aquesta l'Europa que ens convideu a construir, amb un govern empresonat? https://t.co/leFbeSBVdm pic.twitter.com/kldokyAMjJ

— krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) November 7, 2017

The High court, known as the the Audiencia Nacional, summoned Puigdemont and the former ministers over their contentious independence aspiration, but only nine of them turned up at the session and without Puigdemont, who stayed in Brussels with the rest of government in exile. The judge ordered eight be remanded in custody, while the ninth was granted bail of 50,000 euros ($58,000).

https://twitter.com/KRLS/status/927987100326166529