- Title: Thousands demonstrate against sentence of Catalan separatist leaders
- Date: 14th October 2019
- Summary: WOMAN BLOWING WHISTLE
- Embargoed: 28th October 2019 12:45
- Keywords: Catalonia independence Spain's Supreme court veredict jailed catalan separatist leaders demonstration
- Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA003B12IS07
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona on Monday (October 14) after Spain's Supreme Court on Monday (October 14) sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in a failed independence bid in 2017.
Three other defendants, who were also on trial for their involvement in the October 2017 referendum held in spite of a ban and a short-lived independence declaration, were found guilty only of disobedience and not sentenced to prison.
In Barcelona, three main streets were blocked by protesters holding signs calling for "Freedom for political prisoners" as they said the sentence was "completely unfair."
Protesters blocked train and metro access to the Barcelona airport and others temporarily halted traffic on the A2 highway, as well as on several regional roads across Catalonia, officials at the road traffic agency said.
All defendants were acquitted of the gravest charge, rebellion, but leading separatists were quick to condemn the court's decision and the jailed men sent out messages of defiance, urging people to take to the streets.
(Production: Miguel Pereira, Lorena Cabral, Jordi Rubio, May Ponzo, Miguel Gutierrez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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