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The decision was justified by arguing that pro-independence leader Quim Torra has been sentenced to prison for the “crime of disobedience.”
Spain's Electoral Board (JEC) Friday dismissed Catalonia's Autonomous Government President Quim Torra from his position as a regional lawmaker. This decision implies his cessation as president since the Statute of Catalonia obliges the head of the Catalan Executive to be a lawmaker.
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Approved with seven votes in favor and six against, the decision of the electoral authority was justified by recalling that the pro-independence politician has recently been sentenced by the Superior Justice Court to a year and a half of disqualification for the “crime of disobedience.”
After being stripped of his condition of a regional lawmaker, Torra accused the Electoral Board of launching a coup d'état against Catalan institutions.
"I denounce a new coup against Catalan institutions. The Electoral Board has assigned itself a role which it cannot attribute to itself by interpreting the execution of a court ruling," he said.
In the darkest hour when the fascism come call on me brother and we will fight them together. The year of Catalonia independence! #Ireland #Catalonia pic.twitter.com/ewaBVJwRj2
— Joan Figuerola Ardanuy (@opusprima) January 1, 2020
On Dec. 19, Torra was convicted for not having withdrawn a pro-independence symbol from the regional government building in March 2019.
At that time, the JEC ordered Torra to remove a banner showing a yellow loop, under the regulations that prohibit displaying party slogans in public buildings during pre-election periods.
Initially, instead of removing the pro-independence symbol, Torra covered it with a similar one, which had the same motto and a white bow with a red stripe.
Yet another democratically elected President of #Catalonia is now banned from office by #Spain. This time it was Quim Torra.
— Kristina Háfoss (@KristinaHafoss) January 3, 2020
Reason: A poster on the govt. building asking Spain to #FreePoliticalPrisoners & exiles.
When will #European leaders take action to stop this repression? pic.twitter.com/dYv1AqsBp8
In response to his action, the Prosecutor's Office presented a "disobedience complaint" against Torra that resulted in the judicial process for which he has ended up convicted and disabled.
The legal accusation against Torra was initially filed by the neoliberal-conservative the People's Party (PP), the center-right Party of the Citizenry (Citizens) and the far-right party Vox, which have permanently attacked the pro-independence leaders from Catalonia.
"Quim Torra must be detained," the Vox leader Santiago Abascal said on Saturday, adding that the Catalan politician is "rebel" and "seditious."
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