Panorama

In today's program we report on the Spanish Supreme Court verdict on the 12 Catalan politicians and activists on trial for organizing the banned referéndum on October 1st, 2017 and for the subsequent unilateral declaration of Independence. The court discounted the charge of rebellion, which carries up to 25 year prison sentences, but found many guilty of the lesser charge of sedition. The sentences run from 9 to 13 years in prison, with the deputy chief minister of the región of Catalonia Oriol Junqueras sentenced to 13 years. Demonstrators in Barcelona, Girona and other towns have taken the streets to protest the verdict. Additionally, we look at events in Ecuador, Syria and Saudi Arabia.