Catalonia’s High Court of Justice (TSJC) considers it necessary to indict Mas, Ortega, and Rigau because “no analogous cases” of defiance of the TC (Constitutional Court) like that of 9-N (1) “can be found in our country’s jurisprudence nor in that of neighboring countries". They're right. There are no precedents in Europe of 2.3 million people participating in an event like the vote on November 9. Europe doesn’t understand the disdain leveled at Catalans by the Spanish government, either.
The TSJC says that it must protect the TC and its "principle of authority, understood [...] as the dignity that accompanies the legitimate exercise of a public function". The TC would care better for its dignity if it didn't allow itself to be used by the Spanish authorities, if it didn't have a president who hid the fact that he was a card-carrying member of the Partido Popular, someone who believes that "there are no political acts in Catalonia without signs of onanism". You won’t find any close precedents for this, either.
__________
(1) N.T. On November 9 2014 a non-binding vote on independence was held in Catalonia, despite warnings from the Spanish authorities that the organizers might be prosecuted. While the consultation was run by volunteers and grassroots groups, the Catalan government was instrumental to the success of the event. Then-president Artur Mas and several members of his cabinet are now facing criminal charges.
