MADRID: Spain’s Supreme Court said Thursday it had adjourned until November 9 the hearings of former members of Catalonia’s dissolved parliament including speaker Carme Forcadell at the request of their lawyers.
Accused by prosecutors of sedition and rebellion over the region’s independence drive, which carry sentences of up to 15 and 30 years in jail respectively, the six had been summoned to court for questioning by a judge.
It was as yet unknown why their hearings were adjourned by the court, which deals with cases involving lawmakers.
Nearby in the Spanish capital’s National Court, which hears major criminal cases, eight former Catalan government members were being questioned after also being summoned in the investigation into the secession drive.
Conspicuously absent though was the region’s deposed leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers, who traveled to Belgium after the central government imposed direct rule on Catalonia on Friday as the regional parliament declared independence.
They decided to stay put in Belgium, slamming in a statement a “political trial dictated by the Spanish government.”
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Supreme Court adjourns hearings of former Catalan lawmakers
Supreme Court adjourns hearings of former Catalan lawmakers
Ethiopia demands Eritrea ‘immediately withdraw’ troops from its territory
- Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught
- In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has ordered neighboring Eritrea to “immediately withdraw its troops” from Ethiopian territory, accusing Asmara’s forces of an “incursion” and working with “rebel groups” along its northwestern border.
Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught. In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil — allegations Asmara denies.
“Developments over the last few days indicate that the Government of Eritrea has chosen the path of further escalation,” foreign minister Gedion Timothewos told his Eritrean counterpart in a letter dated Saturday.
He demanded that Asmara “withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory and cease all forms of collaboration with rebel groups.”
These actions were “not just provocations but acts of outright aggression,” he said.
But he said that he believed the “cycle of violence and mistrust” could still be broken through diplomacy.
The Eritrean government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed countries, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. They fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000 which claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The two governments cooperated against rebels from Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the 2020-2022 conflict, but fell out over the peace accord, from which Eritrea was excluded.
Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught. In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil — allegations Asmara denies.
“Developments over the last few days indicate that the Government of Eritrea has chosen the path of further escalation,” foreign minister Gedion Timothewos told his Eritrean counterpart in a letter dated Saturday.
He demanded that Asmara “withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory and cease all forms of collaboration with rebel groups.”
These actions were “not just provocations but acts of outright aggression,” he said.
But he said that he believed the “cycle of violence and mistrust” could still be broken through diplomacy.
The Eritrean government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed countries, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. They fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000 which claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The two governments cooperated against rebels from Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the 2020-2022 conflict, but fell out over the peace accord, from which Eritrea was excluded.
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