Artur Mas has been charged with disobedience and misuse of public funds among other crimes by attorney general

The Spanish attorney general has charged Catalan president Artur Mas with disobedience, perverting the course of justice, misuse of public funds and abuse of power in relation to the unofficial referendum on independence held on 9 November.

The unofficial poll was called after the referendum scheduled for the same day was ruled illegal by Spain’s constitutional court. The court then also outlawed the unofficial vote but it went ahead anyway. Poll booths were staffed by volunteers and no civil servants were directly involved, a strategy Mas hoped would circumvent the ban.

Spanish president Mariano Rajoy, who has insisted all along that the Catalan demand for a referendum is a legal and not a political issue, asked the attorney-general’s office to see if any crime had been committed. Although various judges have backed away from what they saw as the use of the judiciary for political ends, the attorney general has now formally charged Mas, as well as the vice-president, Joanna Ortega, and the Catalan education minister Irene Rigau.

The text of the charge claims that Mas “planned, supported and financed” the 9 November poll in defiance of the constitutional court.

“It’s not only strange, it’s hugely disappointing,” Mas said on hearing the news. “It’s distressing when people want to express their opinion through a ballot, which is an element of real democracy, the reaction is to resort to courts and judges.”

Ortega added that “it’s a big mistake. They’re pushing us further and further away from Spain.”

Leaders of five of the main Catalan parties signed a joint letter to Eduardo Torres-Dulce, the attorney general, claiming “the collective responsibility of parliament” for the November poll.

Maurici Lucena, spokesman for the Catalan socialist party, described the move as “incomprehensible because all it does is benefit Mas.” Madrid’s persistent antagonism has transformed Mas, who only weeks ago was declared politically dead, into a popular and increasingly populist political martyr.

The move comes a few days after Rajoy, speaking at the G20 in Brisbane, admitted he had not got his message across to the Catalan people and would soon visit Barcelona in an effort to convince them of the value of Spanish unity. At a press conference, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría , Spain’s vice president, insisted the attorney general had acted independently of political pressure.

“We can all do politics but within the framework of the law,” she said. “Those who break the law use politics as an excuse.”

She added Rajoy had no plans to meet Mas when he visits Barcelona on 29 November because he wants the Catalan people “to hear our position on Catalonia directly and without intermediaries.” In all likelihood, the charges will remain largely symbolic or, given the glacial speed at which Spain’s justice system moves, will simply disappear. In theory, however, Mas and his colleagues face a ban from holding public office of up to 10 years for disobedience and misuse of funds and, for the charges of abuse of power and obstructing justice, six to 12 months in jail.