May 27, Day 47 of Trial
– The documentary evidence phase started on Monday, showing documents and presenting hundreds of videos from both the defense and the accusation related to what happened during Autumn of 2017.
– Videos were not shown during the witness stage of the trial, and in this documentary phase no commentary on the footage was allowed.
– The evidence shown on Monday included police reports on activities allegedly related to the misuse of public funds and the seizure of material for the referendum.
– The accusation presented videos showing “violence” perpetrated by the voters against the Spanish police.
– The defense presented videos showing the “violence” perpetrated by the Spanish police during the October 1 referendum.
May 28, Day 48 of Trial
– On Tuesday, videos presented by the prosecution team aimed to establish that violence was used in the 2017 independence bid were shown.
– Footage shown in court featured protesters and voters peacefully trying to prevent the Spanish police from entering polling stations during the 2017 independence referendum.
– In many cases the state prosecutor was unable to say where or when the footage had been recorded.
– The prosecutor was often unable to tell the defense lawyers where exactly the video had been recorded, saying that the intention had been to show the “general climate everywhere.”
May 29, Day 49 of Trial
– The defense teams presented their video evidence in court.
– The videos shown in court featured some of the jailed leaders calling for the people to keep a peaceful attitude during the referendum.
– One of the videos featured the jailed Catalan leader Jordi Cuixart openly rejecting “violence and non-democratic behavior.”
– Videos with images of police violence against peaceful voters and protesters at numerous locations across Catalonia were shown.
– The lawyers for the defense were able to identify when and where each of the videos had been filmed.
Additional Information
– The defense will present their summaries on June 10 before the defendants also share their closing remarks.
– The public prosecutor confirmed the charges of rebellion against most of the defendants on trial and requests prison sentences of up to 25 years for organizing a referendum and declaring independence in late 2017.
– The prosecutor requested 17 years in jail for the former parliament speaker Carme Forcadell and for the Catalan leaders Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez.
– The prosecutor requested 16 years in jail for the former Catalan ministers Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Dolors Bassa, Raül Romeva, and Joaquim Forn.
– The solicitor general’s office requested 7 and 12 years in prison for sedition.
– The private prosecutor representing the far-right party Vox requested 74 years in prison for the former ministers and 62 years for Sànchez and Cuixart.
– Vox reduced its demands regarding Santi Vila, reducing the charges to disobedience, which carries no prison sentence.
Josep Goded 