Catalan president Quim Torra will face trial on 25th and 26th September in the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) over a charge of disobedience for not removing yellow loops from public buildings during election campaigning earlier this year. As such, it will coincide with the general policy debate in the Catalan Parliament.
The TSJC has today given its ruling on what evidence it will admit in the case, which includes a subsidiary charge of refusal of help to the competent authority, and set the date for the trial. The case stems from a complaint filed by prosecutors against the president over him not immediately responding to resolutions from Spain's Central Electoral Board calling for the removal of "partisan symbols" during the election period.
Prosecutors call for Torra to be banned from holding public office for 20 months and fined €30,000 (£27,000; $33,000). According to their filing, Torra was "conscious of his obligation to comply with the orders of the Central Electoral Board" and that, nonetheless, he "openly disregarded the order" and didn't arrange for the removal of the yellow ribbons and banners expressing support for the political prisoners.
Jesús Maria Barrientos, the chair of the court to hear Torra's case, has refused to admit certain witnesses. These include some of those requested by far-right political party Vox, having brought a private prosecution in the case, and some of those requested by the president's defence, as well as all the members of the Central Electoral Board. He also refused documentation Vox called for from the president's press office.