Spain’s Constitutional Court rejects Catalan activist’s appeal against his prison sentence

Spain’s Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal from the jailed Catalan activist Jordi Cuixart against his conviction for the crime of sedition.

Cuixart thus becomes the third Catalan leader imprisoned following the 2017 push to hold a referendum and declare independence from Spain to be able to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

As the president of Òmnium Cultural, one of the main organizations defending Catalan language and culture, Cuixart is the only one out of nine imprisoned leaders who's not part of any political party.

Spain's highest court rejected Cuixart's legal challenge against his 9-year prison sentence despite two magistrates voting against.

2017 referendum trial 

On October 14, 2019, Spain's Supreme Court convicted nine pro-independence politicians and activists to 9 to 13 years behind bars, having found them guilty of sedition and, in some cases, misuse of public funds.

The highest court they can appeal to within Spain is the Constitutional Court, which is considering each case individually, and has already dismissed the cases of former Catalan ministers Jordi Turull and Josep Rull.

Once all pathways to challenging the decision at the Spanish level are over, a defendant can take their case to the European Court of Human Rights, with its headquarters in Strasbourg.