FORMER regional minister of Catalunya and MP for PdeCat Francesc Homs has been banned by a Supreme Court judge from holding any political position for the next 13 months in punishment for his involvement in the non-binding informal independence referendum in November 2014.
Homs has been ordered to pay a fine of €30,000 for 'sedition', but charges of power-dealing have been dropped.
He would have faced a nine-year ban on political office if he had been found guilty of the latter, an offence involving misuse of public funds – implied, in the prosecution's view, by the fact that the 'illegal' referendum would have involved a certain amount of taxpayers' money to organise.
According to Homs, he 'owes nothing to anyone, except to the people of Catalunya' who 'chose him as MP', and has thanked his supporters for their well wishes via the Twitter hashtag #hotornariaafer ('I would do it again').
“Their support is not just for me as a person, but goes beyond that: it's a reaction to our multiple democratic commitment,” Homs says.
“Sentencing us for setting up ballot boxes is a big mistake and is a sign of weakness in the Spanish State.
“We've won today, and we'll carry on winning!”
Spokeswoman for the regional government of Catalunya, Neus Munté, called the verdict against Homs 'unjust' and says the cabinet will 'defend its defence strategy', even if that means turning to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
“We do not accept that you can be banned from public office for ideas, voting slips and allowing 2.3 million people to exercise democracy,” storms Sra Munté.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com