More than 700 mayors probed for helping plan Catalonia referendum

SPAIN’S state prosecutor has ordered a criminal probe of 712 Catalan mayors who backed the upcoming independence referendum.

All 712 have been summoned to court as official suspects while the prosecutor called for their arrest in case of a refusal to appear for questioning.

It comes after Catalonia’s regional parliament passed a law last week in preparation for the October referendum.

Spain’s Constitutional Court suspended the independence vote after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy challenged it in the courts.

Judges are now considering whether the legislation contravenes Spain’s constitution, which states that the country is indivisible.