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by Patrick Galey © Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The sacked speaker of Catalonia’s parliament left a prison near Madrid on Friday hours after supporters posted her bail of 150 000 euros ($175,000), ending her brief detention over the region’s controversial independence drive. A judge at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday had ordered Carme Forcadell to be held on charges of “rebellion” — which carries a maximum jail term of 30 years — as […]
by Patrick Galey Agence France Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The speaker of Catalonia’s sacked parliament was detained on Thursday over her region’s controversial drive for independence from Spain. Carme Forcadell was held by Spain’s Supreme Court in Madrid pending bail of 150,000 euros, a court spokesman said. Forcadell and five other deputies appeared in front of Spain’s highest tribunal on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds — which carry a maximum […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – The commander of NATO forces in Europe, US General Curtis Scaparrotti, on Thursday demanded that Russia “stop meddling” in European elections, amid concerns about Kremlin interference in the Catalan crisis. Spanish media have accused Moscow-backed outlets such as Russia Today and Sputnik — which have Spanish language services — of playing a destabilizing role in the crisis triggered by Catalonia’s banned October 1 referendum. Moscow is also suspected of interfering in […]
by Toni Cerda with Daniel Bosque in Barcelona Agence France-Presse BRUXELLES, Belgium (AFP) — Catalonia’s sacked leader on Tuesday slammed the European Union for backing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in his bid to quash secession, after calling on pro-independence parties to unite for next month’s regional election. “Will you accept the result of the Catalan referendum or will you continue to help Mr Rajoy in his coup d’etat?” Carles Puigdemont, who was dismissed by Madrid last […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Millions of pounds from the private estate of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II have been invested in offshore tax haven funds, a huge new leak of financial documents revealed on Sunday. Around £10 million ($13 million, €11.3 million) of the Queen’s private money was placed in funds held in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, according to the leaked papers, which were first reported in Britain by the BBC and the Guardian […]
by Daniel Bosque © Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalonia’s deposed leader Carles Puigdemont, who has fled to Belgium and is facing an EU arrest warrant, has been a convinced secessionist since his youth, long before the issue moved to the centre of Catalan politics. Spanish prosecutors want to charge Puigdemont, with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds over his role in the region’s tumultuous independence drive. The 54-year-old has ignored a summons to appear […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Britain’s ruling Conservatives suspended an MP Friday over unspecified “serious allegations”, as Prime Minister Theresa May announced a new party code of conduct in response to a growing sexual harassment scandal. The action was taken against lawmaker Charlie Elphicke “following serious allegations that have been referred to the police”, announced chief whip Julian Smith, who enforces Conservative party discipline in parliament. Elphicke said on Twitter: “The party tipped off the press before […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — A Spanish judge has issued a European warrant for the arrest of ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, his Belgian lawyer told Flemish television late Thursday. Puigdemont, dismissed last week as Catalan president by the Spanish government and who has since been holed up in Belgium, would fight an eventual bid to extradite him, his lawyer Paul Bekaert told the VRT channel. “I have just received word from my client that indeed it […]
by Simon Sturdee with Alfons Luna in Barcelona © Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — A large chunk of Catalonia’s deposed government was behind bars Thursday after a Spanish judge ordered their detention pending probes into their role in the region’s independence drive, prompting fresh street protests. Carles Puigdemont, dismissed last week as Catalan president by the Spanish government and who has since been holed up in Belgium, meanwhile was facing a possible EU arrest warrant after […]
by Pierre Rochiccioli and Clare Byrne © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The brother of a French jihadist who shot dead seven people, including three Jewish schoolchildren, in 2012, received a 20-year jail term Thursday for terrorism in the first trial arising out of a wave of attacks by homegrown radicals. Abdelkader Merah, the older brother of infamous Toulouse “scooter killer” Mohamed Merah, was convicted of being part of a terrorist conspiracy but cleared of having […]
by Daniel BOSQUE Agence France-Presse DOSRIUS, Spain (AFP) – A month ago, residents of the Catalan village Dosrius were facing off against police in their struggle to break away from Spain. Now independence has been declared — but nothing, they feel, has been gained. Indeed, they have probably lost what they had. Spain’s central government has taken control of the region for the first time since the end of dictatorship in the 1970s. Catalonia’s separatist […]
by Pierre ROCHICCIOLI and Clare BYRNE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – A French court will rule on Thursday whether the older brother of a jihadist who shot dead seven people, including three French soldiers and three Jewish children, in 2012 was complicit in the killings. The trial of Abdelkader Merah, brother of Mohamed Merah, is the first arising out of a wave of violence by mostly homegrown radical Islamists that has claimed the lives of more […]
