Banner in favor of jailed leaders finally removed following court order

The banner in favor of the jailed political leaders hanging from government HQ was removed by two public servants on Friday afternoon.

This followed a week of orders by Catalonia’s high court (TSJC) to take it down and Catalan president, Quim Torra, refusing to do so.

The country’s head of government had it removed only after the deadline set by the judges expired and a matter of minutes after the court ordered the police to remove it “immediately.”

The unionist organization Impulso Ciudadano launched a lawsuit against Torra alleging that the yellow ribbon is a partisan symbol, and therefore shouldn’t be hanging from the government building.

It’s the second time that Torra has been ordered to take down symbols deemed political. 

On November 18, the Catalan president will face trial for defying orders from Spain’s Electoral Authority to remove the yellow ribbon during an election period. If found guilty of disobedience, he could be sacked as president and banned from public office.

On this occasion too, Torra ended up having it removed but once again after the deadline.

Banner supporting "freedom of expression"

Later in the day another banner was hung from the government building, with the phrase: "Freedom of opinion and expression. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

The banner in favor of freedom of expression was hung by leading members of the independence movement: singer and activist Lluís Llach, former MP Antonio Baños, actor Sílvia Bel, and linguist Teresa Casals.

In fact, it is the same banner that Torra ordered be put up on March 22, after the banner in support of the jailed leaders was taken down to comply with the Electoral Authori