Spain strips Catalonia police chiefs of powers

International Desk: The Spanish government has stripped Catalonia's most senior police officials of their powers, hours after direct rule was imposed on the region.

This is the first specific measure taken since the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence.

PM Mariano Rajoy has also announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of the Catalan leader, and called for snap local elections.

Demonstrations for and against independence went on into the night.

More are expected on Saturday, with a rally "for the unity of Spain and the constitution" to be held in Madrid.

The crisis began when Catalan leaders held an independence referendum, defying a ruling by the Constitutional Court which had declared it illegal.

The Catalan government said that of the 43 percent of potential voters who took part, 90 per cent were in favour of independence. Others boycotted the vote after the court ruling.

On Friday the Spanish Senate granted Mr Rajoy's government the power to impose direct rule on Catalonia, and after an emergency cabinet meeting Mr Rajoy spelled out what that would entail.

The statement from Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido (in Spanish) followed hours later, announcing the "cessation" of Josep Lluís Trapero Álvarez as the regional police commissioner.

Trapero was already under investigation for sedition, accused of failing to help Spain's Guardia Civil police tackle thousands of pro-independence protesters in Barcelona during the run-up to the referendum.

Separately, Spain's Efe news agency reported that the director general of Catalonia's autonomous Mossos police force, Pere Soler i Campins, had been dismissed by Madrid.

Source: BBC


risingbd/Oct 28, 2017/Mukul