This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

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. MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The court also barred Joana Ortega, the deputy head of the region, from public office for nine months, while Irene Rigau, a former education minister, was barred for a yer and six months for disobedience and prevarication, according to El Pais newspaper. Photograph: Action Press/Rex Shutterstock

He also asked why the Spanish judiciary had not done more to prevent the vote: “If this was so clearly a crime, why didn’t the constitutional court do anything to stop it?”



The constitutional court ruled the referendum was illegal five days before it was held on 9 November 2014, but Mas and others went ahead with the vote, helped by more than 40,000 volunteers who opened schools and installed polling stations. The 2014 ballot drew a turnout of about 2.2 million out of a potential 5.4 million voters, with a strong showing from pro-independence supporters. Leaders in Catalonia, a wealthy region with its own language and distinct culture, have vowed to move ahead with another referendum on secession in September in spite of opposition from Spain's centre-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Former President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Artur Mas, is banned from holding public office for two years after organising an unofficial, unconstitutional independence referendum in 2014.