Catalan independence protest
© Susanna Saez/EFE via EPACatalan independence supporters hold portraits of politicians Dolors Bassa, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull in front of the Lledoners prison. Separatist leaders have been in pre-trial jail for over a year
One of four jailed former Catalan government ministers who have been on a hunger strike for the past two weeks has been moved to a prison hospital.

Jordi Turull, the former Catalan government spokesman, was moved to the infirmary on Friday. Citing sources in the prison service, El Paรญs reported that the move was due to his deteriorating health situation.

Turull and former Catalan National Assembly leader Jordi Sร nchez announced the hunger strike on December 1. They claim the Spanish constitutional court should have resolved their appeals in less than 30 days, but has intentionally blocked them for over a year in order to stop their case from progressing to the European Court of Human Rights.

"We ask for an impartial and diligent constitutional court, which should not impede the exercise of our rights," they said in a statement earlier this month. "We do not ask the constitutional court for any special treatment. But we do not passively accept any discrimination or unwarranted procrastination."

Jaume Padrรณs, one of the doctors who has been attending the prisoners, on Friday wrote on Twitter: "Tonight it will be two weeks ago that [Sร nchez and Turull] started the hunger strike. Despite staying stable, the time elapsed and the individual situation make it advisable for Jordi Turull to be transferred to the infirmary of the penitentiary center."

Eighteen Catalan lawmakers, government officials and civic leaders will face trial for rebellion before the supreme court, expected to begin early next year. The four on hunger strike - Turull, Sร nchez and former infrastructure and interior ministers Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn - are among nine leaders being held in pre-trial detention.