This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Catalonia’s separatist regional president, Quim Torra, has appeared in court in Barcelona accused of disobedience for failing to remove pro-independence symbols from public buildings during the campaign for April’s general election.

Tensions over the issue of Catalan independence re-erupted last month after Spain’s supreme court jailed nine separatist leaders for sedition for the parts they played in the failed push to secede two years ago. The sentences prompted huge marches and violent unrest on the streets of Barcelona.

Torra admitted disobeying Spain’s central electoral board in March when it ordered him to remove a banner reading “Freedom for political prisoners and exiles” from the regional government headquarters in Barcelona.

He was also told to take down the yellow ribbons used to express solidarity with jailed Catalan independence leaders.

The board described the ribbons as “tools of political propaganda” that breached campaign laws.

Torra said he had always known that his refusal to follow the board’s orders would result in him being put on trial. But he argued that the orders were illegal and constituted an unacceptable act of censorship.

“Yes, I disobeyed the central electoral board because it would have been impossible to obey an illegal order,” he told Catalonia’s high court of justice on Monday morning.

“I have many duties as president, and the first is the defence of rights and liberties, and I would never order the removal of a ribbon or a [pro-independence] estelada flag. We’re talking about censorship and the violation of rights.”

He refused to answer prosecutors’ questions, replying only to those of his lawyers. If convicted, Torra could be barred from holding public office and handed a heavy fine.

Public prosecutors are seeking a 20-month ban and a fine of €30,000 (£25,000). The far-right Vox party, which has brought its own “popular proceedings” under Spanish law, wants a two-year ban and a fine of €72,000.

Torra became Catalan president in May 2018 after his predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, fled to Belgium to avoid arrest over his role in the illegal independence referendum and the regional parliament’s subsequent, unilateral declaration of independence from Spain.

Although he has asked for new talks with Spain’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, Torra has also threatened to hold another unilateral independence referendum.

In December last year, Torra urged Catalans to emulate Slovenia’s path to independence. Slovenia’s declaration of independence in 1991 led to a 10-day war against the Yugoslav army in which dozens of people were killed.

The Spanish government has accused Torra’s administration of “lying” to the Catalan people by suggesting that independence is possible, and of ignoring the majority of Catalans who want to remain part of Spain.

Pro-independence parties have never managed to take 50% of the vote in regional elections.

According to the latest survey from the regional government’s own research centre, 48.8% of Catalans oppose independence, while 41.9% are in favour.