Spanish official in apology for police poll action
A TOP Spanish government official in Catalonia has expressed regret about those injured when police cracked down on people taking part in a banned referendum.
Interior Ministry delegate in Catalonia Enric Millo tempered the comments yesterday by saying the Catalan government was responsible for the situation by encouraging people to vote on October 1 despite a constitutional court order suspending the referendum.
Mr Millo’s remarks on Catalonia’s TV3 television station were the first by a Spanish official lamenting the injuries.
“When I saw those images, and knowing that people were hit [and] shoved … all I can do is apologise on behalf of the officers who intervened.” He said the events made him very sad.
Spain defended the police action saying it was a firm and proportionate response to an illegal referendum.
Mr Millo said only one person out of four people taken to hospital remained in care. Some 900 people required treatment.
Spain’s anti-riot squads fired rubber bullets, smashed into polling stations and beat protesters with batons to disperse voters on the day.
The Catalan government has submitted to the regional parliament the final results of a disputed referendum on secession from Spain, a necessary step before declaring independence as separatist politicians have promised.
Spain’s central authorities have deemed the referendum illegal and a constitutional court suspended it. But a vote went ahead on October 1 anyway, despite a lack of census controls and violence by Spanish police who were trying to halt the vote.
The final numbers confirm earlier results showing 90 per cent of votes in favour of independence.
The regional government said 2.28 million Catalans voted, representing 43 per cent of eligible voters. The No side received some eight per cent of the votes.
Separatist Catalan president Carles Puigdemont will address the regional government on Tuesday to “report on the current political situation”.
It was unclear if he or other separatist politicians would use the meeting to introduce a vote on declaring secession.
Spain’s National Court, meanwhile, unconditionally released two senior officers of Catalonia’s regional police force and the leaders of two pro-independence civic groups being investigated for sedition.
The four are to be questioned again in coming days, once the court studies a report by the Civil Guard police about incidents surrounding the referendum.
The case is linked to demonstrations on September 20-21 in Barcelona, when Spanish police arrested several Catalan government officials and raided offices in a crackdown on preparations for the referendum.
Sunday’s vote has led to Spain’s biggest political crisis in recent times, with the government condemning the independence referendum as illegal, unconstitutional and invalid.