Jailed Catalan separatist leaders end hunger strike

Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders are abandoning their hunger strike more than two weeks after starting it because they consider that their protest has achieved its goals, a spokeswoman for the politicians said. They are awaiting trial for their part in last year’s attempt to secede from Spain. The strike has prompted Spain’s Constitutional Court to review some of their appeals, which enables them to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights, spokeswoman Pilar Calvo said on Thursday. Pro-independence activist-turned-politician Jordi Sanchez and former Catalan cabinet member Jordi Turull began their hunger strike on December 1. Ex-regional ministers Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn joined two days later, AP said. According to the Constitutional Court, the appeals are following the “normal judicial calendar.”