The Catalan high court has opened a criminal case against President Torra after he refused to remove a banner supporting jailed leaders from government headquarters in September.

The court initially gave Torra 48 hours to remove the banner from September 23. It was eventually taken down on September 27, after the 48 hour period had passed, and following the electoral board threatening to send the Catalan police to enforce their ruling.

Previous trial

Torra was already tried and convicted, pending appeal, for a similar case. He was accused of defying orders from Spain’s Electoral Authority to remove a yellow ribbon showing support for the jailed Catalan leaders, during the run up to the Spanish General Election in April.

As part of his conviction Torra was sentenced to 18 months political disqualification. The fallout from this led to Torra being stripped of his MP status, and eventually resulted in the president saying he would call a snap election once a budget is passed.

Torra reacts

Torra reacted to what he referred to as the “new judicial attack” by saying that Spain “had a problem” with freedom of expression.

He claimed that this new case proved that neutrality during an election period was not the crux of the problem as claimed previously, and the courts were in fact “guided by revenge and ideology.”

Torra has also complained that the new case will be overseen by the same magistrate as the previous one.

The case is being brought following a complaint by anti-independence civic group Impulso Ciudadano.