Court condemns former Catalan chief for vote on independence

Published March 17, 2017

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2015 file photo, the then President of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, Artur Mas, talks during a rally in Barcelona, Spain. Former Catalonia regional government chief Artur Mas faces a 2 year ban from holding public office for ignoring a Constitutional ban and organizing a vote on the region's independence from Spain, a court in Barcelona ruled Monday March 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) (The Associated Press)

Former Catalonia regional government chief Artur Mas is facing a two-year ban from holding public office for ignoring a ban and organizing a vote on the region's independence from Spain, a court in Barcelona ruled Monday.

Mas can appeal the ban to the Supreme Court. The judge also required him to pay a fine of 36,500 euros ($38,900) and disqualified from politics for 21 and 18 months respectively two of his aides, former regional vice president Joana Ortega and education councilor Irene Rigau.

The court found the three of them not guilty of administrative wrongdoing.

The mock referendum in November 2014 was deemed illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court.

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