Madrid - Spain's supreme court sentenced nine of 12 accused
Catalonian separatist leaders on Monday to between nine and 13 years
in prison over their roles in an attempt to secede from the country.
The sentencing occurred more than two years after an October 2017
referendum to declare Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region, which
includes the city of Barcelona, as an independent state.
A Spanish court ahead of the voting had declared the referendum
attempt illegal. The accused included the region's former vice
president, Oriol Junqueras. He received the longest sentence.
During the trial nearly 600 witnesses were called, including
conservative former prime minister Mariano Rajoy, who was in office
when the referendum was held.
The region's former president, Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium
as the Spanish government sought to arrest him shortly after the
referendum, was not one of the 12 on trial.
Puigdemont's successor, Quim Torra, vowed on the referendum's October
1 anniversary that the fight for an independent Catalonia would
continue.
"We will continue, without any excuses, to make the Catalan republic
a reality," he told a ceremony in Barcelona at the time.
About 600,000 independence supporters rallied in Barcelona last month
on the National Day of Catalonia.
The September 11 holiday marks Spain's 1714 conquest of the city
during the War of the Spanish Succession, which resulted in
Catalonia's loss of independence.