MADRID: Twenty-five Catalan leaders will be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday, in a sharp escalation of legal action against separatists in the northeastern region.

One of the leaders facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, Marta Rovira, earlier said she had already fled Spain, joining six others in exile. The ruling raised the stakes in Madrid’s efforts to contain separatists in Cata­lonia, where a banned referendum backed independence last year.

The case will be closely watched by separatist gro­ups across Europe and beyond. Rights groups have already criticised the extent of Mad­rid’s crackdown — though the European Union, wary of any splintering of its member states, has firmly supported the Spanish government’s response.

Catalonia has been in poli­tical limbo since Spa­nish PM Mar­i­ano Rajoy took over its regi­onal government after it unilaterally declared indep­e­n­­de­nce following the Octo­ber plebiscite.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2018