ANKARA
Spain's Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Catalan leader Artur Mas and other officials for defying the Constitutional Court's decision and holding a symbolic vote on the region’s independence.
Eduardo Torres-Dulce, Spain's state prosecutor, accused Mas of disobedience, breach of public duties and misuse of public money in case file which the regional High Court of Justice of Catalonia received on Friday.
Prosecutors are also levying the same charges against Mas’s deputy, Joana Ortega, and regional education commissioner Irene Rigau, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
More than two million Catalans took part in the symbolic vote for the region's independence on November 9, which Spain's authorities later claimed was a "complete failure" and vowed to sue Catalonia for going against the Constitutional Court's decision.
'Abuse of power'
Spain's Premier Mariano Rajoy, backed by his conservative Popular Party (PP), had opposed the referendum in October, arguing it violated the Spanish Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mas had accused the government of "abusing its power and the law" to resolve political conflicts after the Constitutional Court barred the referendum.
Recent calls for Basque independence date back to the early 1960s.
Armed separatist groups such as ETA also launched attacks against the Spanish state from 1961.
Catalan government spokesperson Francesc Homs Molist said earlier this week the government was ready to defend itself if a lawsuit was filed against it.
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