Catalan president Quim Torra has been sentenced to 18 months political disqualification after refusing to withdraw signs in favor of the Catalan political prisoners and exiles at the Government HQ during the electoral campaign, as ordered by Spain’s electoral authority.

Catalonia’s high court has also fined him 30,000 euros, but its decision is not final. Torra can still appeal the decision at Spain’s Supreme Court, the one which tried the 2017 referendum leaders.

If he does not challenge the decision, he will be automatically ousted from power in the coming days – it is expected he does appeal the ruling, so the final decision will be at the Supreme Court’shands. In any case it is the first time in modern history that a Catalan president in office is condemned to disqualification.

Yellow ribbons

The president faced trial for failing to comply in time with an order from the Electoral Board to remove symbols deemed “partisan” from the front of the government building in Barcelona in the run-up to the Spanish general election at the end of April.

Torra initially refused, before eventually changing the hanging banner to one defending freedom of speech, but not until after the deadline he was given to remove the yellow ribbon banner had passed.

The yellow ribbons became the symbol for solidarity with the Catalan leaders tried and sentenced to prison by the Supreme Court over the bid to split from Spain in 2017. After they were arrested in the aftermath of the unilateral independence referendum in autumn 2017, people sympathetic to their cause have worn yellow ribbons or hung them from buildings, including many public buildings.