The High Court of Justice of Catalonia has convicted Catalan president Quim Torra of disobedience and sentenced him to a ban from holding public office for eighteen months. The case relates to him not removing a banner expressing support for the imprisoned political prisoners from the front of the government palace in Barcelona earlier this year.

Today's sentence is not final, it can be appealed. As such, Torra will remain in office for the immediate future as the appeals process plays out. This could take months, certainly at least until the spring.

Specifically, the sentence would prevent Torra from holding any local, national or European elected office for one year and six months. It also requires him to pay a fine equal to €100 a day for ten months and some prosecution costs. In total, around €30,000 (£26,000; $33,000).

The court finds that "the right honourable president of Catalonia, Joaquim Torra, disobeyed, without there being any circumstance which would modify his responsibility, the decision by the Central Electoral Commission which, once the 28th April election had been formally called, ordered the removal of partisan symbols exhibited on public buildings, [which] it communicated in time and correctly and gave a period for the mentioned removal without that being attended to."