Catalan independence leader barred from office for two years
Angry response to Artur Mas ban as tensions run high between Madrid and Barcelona
Former premier of Catalonia Artur Mas gives a press conference yesterday. “We don’t regret a thing. We are democrats and we are proud of having given the people a voice,” he said. Photograph: Luis Genelluis/Getty Images
A Barcelona court has barred the former premier of Catalonia, Artur Mas, from elected office for two years for staging a referendum on independence in 2014.
The Catalan high court of justice ruled that Mr Mas, who was regional premier until January 2016, had been the “direct and material mastermind” of the referendum, the staging of which defied a ruling by Spain’s top court. He was also fined €36,500.