Catalan lawmakers, activist on trial for separatism

Two recently elected lawmakers in the restive Spanish region of Catalonia and another separatist activist are making their case against their jailing for involvement in the region's push for independence.

National Catalan Assembly civic group member Jordi Sanchez and former Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn, who were elected on separatist party tickets in Catalonia's December 21 elections, are appearing on Thursday before Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena. Also appearing is activist Jordi Cuixart.

Forn was one of several regional ministers jailed on provisional charges of rebellion after the Catalan parliament declared independence on October 27. That prompted the Spanish government in Madrid to dissolve the regional parliament and call for fresh elections.

Sanchez and Cuixart were jailed previously on provisional sedition charges related to preparations for the illegal October 1 independence referendum.

Separatist leader re-elected

The trial is taking place on the same day that the two main pro-independence parties in Catalonia agreed to back former leader Carles Puigdemont as their candidate to head the region, raising the likelihood of a renewed push this year for a split from Spain.

However, the anti-independence party that won most votes in a December 21 regional election poured scorn on the plan as Puigdemont remains in self-imposed exile in Brussels and it said he would be a "hologram president."

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called the election in Catalonia last month to try to resolve Spain's worst political crisis in decades after Catalan leaders declared independence in October following a banned referendum on secession.

Pro-independence parties secured a slim majority of seats but failed to win more than 50 percent of the popular vote, meaning there is still no end in sight to the months-long, and increasingly bitter, impasse.

The political instability in Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain's economy, has deterred tourists and prompted more than 3,000 companies, including the region's two biggest banks, to move their legal headquarters elsewhere in Spain.

The new Catalan parliament will hold its first session on January 17, the first step in reinstating the local government after Madrid fired the old regional administration, led by Puigdemont, for illegally declaring independence.

Ines Arrimadas, the leader of Ciudadanos or Citizens, which wants Catalonia to remain part of Spain, said a fugitive from justice could not be lead the region.

"You can't have a hologram president in Catalonia," she said in a television interview on Tuesday. "You can't be president of Catalonia from Brussels by Skype," said Arrimadas, whose party won most votes in December but not enough to form a government.

Once the Catalan parliament is formed, potential leaders of the regional government will put themselves forward for a vote of confidence. However, it could take months for a new government to emerge.