Public prosecutor asks that President Torra be barred from public office for yellow ribbons

Torra could also face a €30,000 fine for disobeying Spain’s electoral authority

Workers take down a sign with a yellow ribbon on it on the Catalan government HQ's façade on March 22, 2019 (Miquel Codolar/ACN) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

First published: July 9, 2019 02:28 PM

The public prosecutor has asked that President Torra be barred from public office for a year and 8 months as well as face a €30,000 fine for refusing to take the yellow ribbons on government buildings down during the run-up to the Spanish elections on April 28.

According to the public prosecutor, Torra disobeyed Spain’s electoral authority by ignoring “clear” orders to take the yellow ribbons down during the electoral period and then belittled them by replacing yellow ribbons with near-identical white ones.

This comes a day after Torra’s lawyer presented motion to have the judge overseeing the case removed for being “clearly prejudiced” and not guaranteeing his client’s presumption of innocence.

Torra has admitted to disobeying the electoral authority and said that he did not take them down because of his “higher public mandate to defend human rights.”

The yellow ribbons have come to symbolize support for the jailed and exiled pro-independence leaders following the failed 2017 secession bid.

Catalan Independence Quim Torra public prosecutor yellow ribbons