The former Catalan president Artur Mas has been banned from holding public office for two years after being found guilty of disobeying the Spanish constitutional court by holding a symbolic independence referendum three years ago. On Monday, the Catalan high court convicted Mas, former vice-president Joana Ortega and former education minister Irene Rigau of defying the constitutional court by pressing ahead with the non-binding vote in November 2014. Ortega was banned from holding office for 21 months and fined €30,000, while Rigau was banned for 18 months and fined €24,000. “We have been condemned for defending ideas that are not liked.”His successor, Carles Puigdemont, contrasted the sentence with the news that Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, plans to stage a second independence referendum. The renewed push has again been blocked by Spain’s constitutional court.

Source: The Guardian March 13, 2017 12:50 UTC