 Large public protests took place in Barcelona the same day in support of the accused.In March 2017, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia condemned Artur Mas, Joana Ortega and Irene Rigau to fines and were barred from office between 18 and 24 months.Although they were acquitted of charges of misappropriation of public funds, The Court of Auditors has also been judging them as accounting officers for the referendum preparations and claims 5,2 million euros.