A CATALAN mayor has been banned from public office for six months for refusing to remove an independence flag from her town hall.
Montse Venturós, mayor of the northern town of Berga, was accused of disobedience over her actions during two election campaigns in 2015.
The member of the pro-independence Public Unity Candidacy (CUP) defied an order from the election board to remove the Catalan independence flag – the Estelada – from the building’s balcony, claiming the majority of councillors had voted to display it. Catalonia’s High Court sentenced her to the six-month suspension and fined her €6 (£5) a day for three months.
Venturós claimed her trial was political and said the Spanish courts “collude with the state and all forms of repression against the Catalan people”. She can appeal against her sentence and remain in office until it is confirmed.
The sentence came as the stand-off continued between Catalan president Quim Torra and King Felipe VI ahead of today’s opening of the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, which will be inaugurated by the monarch.
Torra – who has not confirmed if he will attend the ceremony – had called for a meeting with Felipe and for an apology over his condoning police violence during the October independence referendum. He said his remarks had “opened great wounds”.
However, on Wednesday, the king rejected the call and passed a letter from Torra – and former presidents Carles Puigdemont and Artur Mas – to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Torra said: “If the Spanish king is willing to inaugurate the games in Tarragona, should also show the responsibility to listen what a good number of citizens think and to respect the opinion of Catalans.
“He should apologise to the Catalan people for his speech on October 3, when he condemned referendum organisers for being outside the law, accused them of showing disloyalty to the powers of the state and breaking democratic principles.”
Catalan vice-president Pere Aragonès, from the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) said: “The monarchy committed a very huge mistake on October 3, taking sides. And now, it is persisting on this mistake by refusing to meet with Catalan leaders.”
He added that he would respect any decision Torra made on attending the games if Felipe did not show his willingness to discuss October’s events.
Protest groups are planning demonstrations against the monarch at the opening of the games, with marches and a rally planned for this evening.
Felipe’s brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, meanwhile, is settling in to life in what will be his home for at least the next 17 months – an empty men’s block in Avila Penitentiary, a women’s prison in Brieva.
He was jailed for six years and three months and fined more than €500,000 (£438,000) after being found guilty of embezzlement, fraud and tax evasion
The former Olympic handball player and one-time business partner Diego Torres were accused of embezzling €6 million (£5.2m) in public money paid to their non-profit Nóos Institute, to organise events. Torres was jailed for eight years.
Felipe’s sister, Princess Cristina, was cleared of helping her husband evade taxes when she became the first royal to face criminal charges since the monarchy was restored in 1975.
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