SANT JOAN DE VILATORRADA, Spain (AP) — The Latest on the trial of Catalan separatists in Spain (all times local):
1:30 p.m.
A court official says Spain's Supreme Court has set Feb. 12 as the starting date for a high-profile trial of prominent Catalan separatists.
The Supreme Court official, who wasn't authorized to be named in media reports, told The Associated Press the date was decided Friday.
Spanish authorities on Friday transferred nine pro-independence politicians and activists from prisons in Catalonia to the capital, Madrid, ahead of the high-stakes trial for their part in an attempt to secede from Spain.
A total of twelve defendants — including three more who were released on bail — could be imprisoned for decades if they end up convicted of rebellion, the gravest of the charges.
Defense lawyers say they should be acquitted.
—By Aritz Parra
———
8 a.m.
Authorities are transferring nine politicians and activists from prisons in Catalonia to the country's capital, Madrid, ahead of a high-stakes trial for their role in an attempt to break Spain's territorial unity.
There is no date set for the first hearing, but Judge Manuel Marchena ordered the separatists be moved closer to the Supreme Court located in Madrid by Feb. 2. Early on Friday, convoys of Catalonia's regional police were ferrying the defendants — seven men and two women — from three different prisons to the Brians 2 penitentiary, where Spain's Civil Guard will then transfer them to Madrid.
Three more defendants in the case were released on bail.
The separatists face up to 25 years in prison for pushing ahead with a banned referendum on Catalonia's secession from Spain on Oct. 1 2017.
