Spanish Supreme Court Dismisses Catalonia Leader Advocating Independence

(Barcelona=AP Yonhap News) Quim Torra, head of the Catalonia autonomous government, is greeting supporters by raising his thumb in Barcelona on the 28th (local time).

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim On-yu] The dismissal of Quim Torra, the head of the Catalonia autonomous government who has been advocating for independence from Spain, has been confirmed.

On the 28th (local time), the Spanish Supreme Court finalized a ruling to suspend Torra from his duties for 18 months and impose a fine of 30,000 euros (approximately 40 million KRW), according to reports by AP News and others.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that "Torra repeatedly and stubbornly disobeyed the Central Election Commission's order to remove certain symbols from public buildings."

Torra was prosecuted for refusing to comply with the Election Commission's demand in March 2019, ahead of the Spanish general election, to remove symbols of the Catalan independence movement from public buildings such as the autonomous government office in Barcelona.

The controversial symbols included yellow ribbons representing detained Catalan independence politicians and banners reading "Freedom for political prisoners and exiles." The Election Commission judged that these violated the neutrality required before elections.

The Catalonia High Court ruled in December last year to ban Torra from holding public office for 18 months, and Torra appealed. Until the Supreme Court's decision, Torra was able to perform his duties.

Torra's dismissal takes effect immediately, and Vice President Pere Aragon?s will act as the interim head.

In response, Torra criticized, saying "The court is trying to overthrow the Catalan government," and stated, "I will appeal this ruling to the European Court of Human Rights to protect freedom of expression."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.