FRI AM FEB 15

Catalan Separatist Trial
The lead defendant in the trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders, former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras, refused to answer prosecutors’ questions in court yesterday.
“I am being persecuted for my ideas and not for my actions… I will not answer questions from the accusers,” he said as he took the stand in the Supreme Court in Madrid for the first time.
Junqueras faces 25 years behind bars if he is convicted of rebellion and misuse of public funds for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban.
“I consider myself to be a political prisoner,”he said in response to questions from his own lawyer.
Junqueras has been held in pre-trial detention for more than a year.
“Nothing which we did is a crime, nothing, absolutely nothing. Voting in a referendum is not a crime. Working peacefully for independence is not a crime. We have not committed a single one of the crimes we are accused of,” he said.

Sexual Abuse Cases
Campaigners yesterday delivered a petition with more than half a million signatures to the national parliament in Madrid demanding an extension of the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases.
The organizers of the event said Many alleged child abusers in church, state and sports institutions have gone unpunished because their alleged crimes were reported only many years later by their victims,
A spokesman for victims’ group the Stolen Childhood Association, said the 15-year statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases should begin to run only after an alleged victim reaches 50 years of age.
Currently, it begins after an alleged victim turns 18. The Spanish government has proposed to raise that to 30.

Football Suspension.
Gareth Bale could face a suspension of up to 12 matches because of a gesture he made toward fans during Real Madrid’s 3-1 derby win at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
The 29-year-old has been reported by La Liga to the Spanish Football Federation over his celebration after scoring Real Madrid’s third goal.
A statement on La Liga’s official website says Bale created a possibly obscene gesture with arm movements.
The statement says Bale could be suspended for four to 12 matches if he is deemed to have intentionally provoked the crowd.
The goal was Bale’s 100th for Real Madrid. He joined the Spanish club from Tottenham in 2013.

Getting Married
FEWER people tie the knot in Spain than in most countries in Europe, according to figures released to coincide with Valentine’s Day.
Data published by the community statistics office reveals that Spain was the sixth member state with the least weddings in 2017, just 3.7 per 1,000 people.
The EU average was 4.3.