Unionist Cs files criminal charges against Catalan parliament speaker

Ciutadans (Cs), the main unionist party in Catalonia, is filing criminal charges against the parliament speaker Roger Torrent and members of the chamber’s bureau who allowed a vote in support of independence last February.

Cs accuses them of breach of official duty for greenlighting a resolution by far-left CUP party, urging the Catalan chamber to abide by the “political goals" laid out in a parliamentary declaration approved after a non-binding referendum on independence in 2015.

Carlos Carrizosa, Cs spokesperson in parliament, urged the Spanish president Pedro Sánchez not to overlook political actions in Catalonia, and accused him of being a “hostage" to pro-independence parties.

Sánchez came to power last June after ousting former president Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote. The supports of pro-independence parties were instrumental in securing the votes he needed to succeed.

The unionist party is taking to court the highest authority in the Catalan chamber, as well as all parliament bureau members from Esquerra (ERC) and Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) parties, currently ruling Catalonia in a pro-independence government coalition.

Torrent would later take on Cs via Twitter: "Those who remove symbols from the streets are also persecuting political debate in Parliament. Their problem is not independence, but democracy."