Catalan separatists’ trial proceeds
CATAL AN separatist leaders accused of rebellion for tr y ing to make t heir region i ndependent from Spain launched their defence on Tuesday at t he start of a long-awaited t r ia l.
Sitting on benches in t he ornate chamber of Madrid’s Supreme Court, the defendants faced a row of judges and a Spanish flag in proceedings broadcast live on telev ision.
Twelve defendants are in the dock over an independence referendum, held on October 1, 2017, in defiance of a court ban, and a short-lived declaration of independence.
Nine of them are charged with rebellion and three face lesser charges of disobedience and misuse of public funds.
The independence bid sparked Spain’s deepest political crisis since the transition to democracy in the 1970s after the death of dictator Francisco Franco.
“This case targets political dissidence,” said Andreu Van den Eynde, the lawyer for two defendants including Catalonia’s former vice president Oriol Junqueras, who could face up to 25 years in jail.
Spain has been forced to defend its judiciary against criticism.
In a rare move, Spanish embassies in several European capitals and further afield briefed reporters on Monday and Tuesday, handing out a file entitled 12 falsehoods about Spain to refute common separatist claims such as the lack of impartiality of all judges.
“These people aren’t there [on trial] because of what they think but because of what they did,” said Jorge Notivoli Marin, Spain’s charge d’affaires in Brussels.
“It’s very important for us to show that we’re a country that has nothing to hide, that follows the law and procedure.”
Many Spaniards support the tria l, shocked by t he actions of Catalonia’s regiona l executive in October 2017.
But separatists in Catalonia have dismissed the trial as a politicallymotivated “farce”.
On Tuesday evening in central Barcelona, some 6,000 people, many waving Catalan separatist flags, protested against the opening of the trial, municipal police said.
Similar protests were held in other Catalan cities including Girona and Tarragona.
Puigdemont absent
Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s former president who fled Spain days after the independence declaration on October 27, is not among the defendants. Spain does not try suspects in absentia for major offences.
Speaking from Berlin, Puigdemont said the trial was “a stress test for Spanish democracy”.
His successor, Quim Torra, who travelled to Madrid for the start of the proceedings, said it was “a trial that never should take place in a state that wants to be considered democratic”.
In Puigdemont’s absence, the trial’s main protagonist is his former deputy Junqueras, who opted to remain in Spain.
The 11 other defendants include members of Catalonia’s former executive, the two leaders of powerful pro-independence associations, ANC and Omnium Cultural, and the former president of the Catalan parliament. They could face jail terms of seven to 17 years.
The nine defendants charged with rebellion have been in pre-trial detention for months, some of them for more than a year.
Was it a rebellion?
Controversy has swirled over the charge of rebellion.
Under Spanish law, rebellion is defined as “rising up in a violent and public manner”. But opinion is divided over whether the independence bid was violent.
Prosecutors say the defendants “ca lled on citizens to participate in the October 1 referendum knowing it was illega l and t hat explosions of v iolence could t herefore ta ke place”.
But supporters of independence deny violence actually occurred.
They accuse the police of brutality during the referendum.
Carles Mundo, one of the defendants, told media in court that it was “absurd”.
“The violence needed to justify these offences didn’t happen, as everyone was able to see, nor did misuse of public funds.”
Hundreds of witnesses have been called to testify, including former conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy who was in office at the time of the Catalan referendum.
The trial is scheduled to last three months, with verdicts expected several months later.