What to Expect after the Upcoming Independence Trial Verdict

The Independence Trial verdict on the 12 Catalan leaders is expected to be announced tomorrow Monday. Mass demonstrations and political responses are expected if they are found guilty. Here’s a guide on what to expect in the hours and days following the verdict:

Catalan Government Response

President Torra has been saying for months that he will “not accept” the decision if the Catalan leaders are found guilty. He affirms that the parliament will articulate a response based on “democracy, self-determination and human rights.” However, he has not disclosed yet what this might mean.

Protests

Pro-independence organizations such as Òmnium and ANC have already called for “mass peaceful demonstrations” once the verdict is out, such as halting vehicles, using their horns, making noise, and protesting in the streets.

The ANC is also expected to call for demonstrations in undisclosed places that they will announce a few hours before the protests take place.

Marches

ANC and Òmnium will organize “Marches for Freedom” in the next few days after the verdict is out. They will kick off from the cities of Girona, Vic, Berga, Tàrrega and Tarragona, and each route will consist of walking 100 kilometers over three days, from Wednesday to Friday. This action is inspired by the historical marches of Gandhi’s Salt March and Martin Luther King Jr’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

General strike

The Catalan trade union Intersindical-CSC has called a general strike for Friday, October 18. The student’s union Sindicat d’Estudiants has also announced a three-day strike from October 16 to October 18.

Spanish Government Response

The Spanish government may suspend Catalonia’s self-rule, depending on the response from the pro-independence camp.  Spanish acting PM Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) appears to embrace the same repressive strategy as his right-winger predecessor Mariano Rajoy (PP).

ANC and Òmnium to Organize Five Massive Marches to Respond to the Upcoming Independence Trial Verdict

The pro-independence organizations Catalan National Assembly(ANC) and Òmnium Cultural have announced that they will organize five massive public marches from different parts of Catalonia to Barcelona. This will be “a countrywide response to the upcoming Independence Trial verdict demanding the freedom of political prisoners and exiles, against repression, and to claim the right to self-determination.” 12 Catalan leaders are expected to be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for organizing a referendum on independence in 2017.

Under the slogan Marxes per la Llibertat (Marches for Freedom), the action will take place in the days after the verdict is announced, on a date that the organizers will make public by then. The marches will start from five different locations: Girona, Vic, Berga, Tàrrega and Tarragona and will travel 100 kilometers on foot for three days until they arrive at the Catalan capital: Barcelona. According to the organizers, “the initiative is inspired by other historical peaceful marches such as Gandhi’s Salt March and Martin Luther King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”

On the first and second day, there will be two stages and on the third there will be only one because it is planned to arrive in Barcelona at noon. Each stage will begin and end in an urban nucleus in which a public breakfast, lunch and dinner will be offered at a symbolic price, and accommodation for the night will be free and people will continue the next day. ANC and Òmnium seek to involve the whole territory, in “a ‘transversal and ‘plural’ way to return the leading role of demonstrations to the citizens.” Citizens will be able to participate without the obligation to complete an entire march.

Aside from the marches, ANC and Òmnium will also organize demonstrations across the country the day of the announcement of the verdict, which is expected to be some time this week or on Monday. The demonstrations will be announced through social media specifying all the details.

President Puigdemont’s Lawyer Gonzalo Boye Accuses the Spanish State of “Attempting to Deceive Belgian Justice”

Puigdemont’s lawyer Gonzalo Boye accuses the Spanish State of “attempting to deceive Belgian justice” with the “orchestrated” Civil Guard police operation against the 7 CDR members imprisoned last week in order to link “terrorism” with the pro-independence movement and Presidents Torra and Puigdemont. Their aim might be to obtain the extradition of President Carles Puigdemont.

“The strategy is clear: criminalize and then try to deceive the Belgians by ticking the box of terrorism [in the formal petition of extradition order].”

Boye’s statements came after exiled President Puigdemont accused the Spanish State of beginning a “legal war” in an attempt to obtain the Extradition Order.

“The lawfare has been brought to its fullest expression: changing them from rebels to terrorists to try to manipulate, again, the process of euro order. Because they can only find us in the way we have always followed: democracy, civility and nonviolence.”

President Torra Urges Catalan Parliament’s Speaker Roger Torrent to Be Prepared to Reinstate Exiled Leader Carles Puigdemont as President

On Saturday, President Torra urged Catalan Parliament’s Speaker Roger Torrent to be prepared to reinstate exiled leader Carles Puigdemont as President. It came a few hours after Torrent called for a “national unity government” of pro-independence and republican parties as one of the possible responses to the upcoming Independence Trial verdict.

In an interview for the ACN news agency on Saturday morning, Torrent said that President Torra must have his formula on the table and, if the occasion is given, it must be able to be materialized.

Torrent: “A national unity government is a good formula which would represent 80% of society.”

Nevertheless, Torra argued that all institutions, including the Parliament, will have to lead the reaction to the verdict during a period of “democratic confrontation [with Spain].”

Torra has insisted for months that any verdict other than the acquittal must have a democratic response based on the exercise of the right to self-determination.

This past weekend a new independentist summit took place in Switzerland with representatives of the pro-independence parties and the organizations JxCat, ERC, CUP, ANC and Òmnium. The aim of the meeting was to find strategic unity over the next few months.

The Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs Fabricates a Dossier of 70 Pages Full of Distortions and Falsehoods to “Combat” the Catalan pro-Independence Movement Abroad

Spain Global, a body of the Spanish Foreign Ministry led by Josep Borrell has prepared a dossier of 70 pages full of falsehoods and distortions to combat the Catalan pro-independence movement abroad.

The document includes a list of 45 “habitual” pro-independence movement “slogans” which the Ministry for Foreign Affairs classifies as “fakes.” The document contradicts each case with falsehoods and distortions.

For example, the document only acknowledges three injuries during the October 1, 2017 independence referendum. However, the official data provided by the Catalan health department puts it at 1,066 people, many of whom needed medical assistance and some even hospitalization.

The dossier also suggests that the “Catalan pro-independence movement” is not peaceful and considers the peaceful demonstration in front of the Catalan Department of Economy on Sept. 20, 2017, (in which nobody was injured) a “seige.” Numerous organizations have pointed out that this demonstration was just a peaceful exercise of the right to protest.

Catalan civil society leaders Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez were jailed and accused of sedition and rebellion for that demonstration. Organizations such as Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned this and called for their immediate release.

The document explains that there aren’t any political prisoners, despite the fact that Amnesty International has published several reports saying that “the charges against Cuixart and Sànchez are unfounded and must therefore be dropped. If it can be shown that they called on demonstrators to prevent police from carrying out a lawful operation, this could constitute a prosecutable public order offence. But accusing them of such serious crimes as rebellion or sedition and detaining them for a year is disproportionate and an excessive restriction of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.” Thus, it is clear that the jailed Catalan leaders are in prison for their ideas, not their crimes, therefore they are political prisoners.

The dossier also violates the presumption of innocence of former Catalan parliament speaker Carme Forcadell, saying that her “illegal” acts “deprived Catalans of rights, and violated mandates” of courts. 

Regardless, to the extent that the imprisoned Catalans have been convicted of no crimes, the dossier violates the European Convention on Human Rights’ Article 6 (“Right to a fair trial”).

Per the CoE, “Art. 6§2 prohibits statements by public officials about pending criminal investigations which encourage the public to believe the suspect is guilty.” In this case, it’s more than just oral statements. It’s publishing and actively distributing documents implying guilt.

Another chapter refers to the Spanish far right-wing party Vox as a “conservative” party and defends their presence in the Independence Trial as a private prosecutor. The body has indicated that this document is only one of many materials that are taken into consideration in its work “to face the threats to the reputation of Spain.”

As has been demonstrated above, this dossier appears to have been fabricated with the sole intention of manipulating public opinion.

 

 

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The ANC Urges the Catalans to Use the Mobilizations of the Independence Trial Verdict Response to “Take Strength” to Resume Unilateralism

Last week, the President of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Elisenda Paluzie, urged the Catalans to use “the impulse of the upcoming Independence Trial verdict” to make demonstrations capable of forcing the Catalan government to recover unity and re-make a roadmap for independence.

Paluzie also said that according to the roadmap of the ANC, unilateralism must be resumed when pro-independence parties get over 50% of the total votes in a Catalan general election. In this regard, she said that unilateralism is “complex” and that it must be “reinforced” with the legitimization of the votes.

The President of the ANC admitted that there is “disparity” within the pro-independence movement, but that has also occurred on other occasions, such as in 2012 and 2013. For this reason, she insisted on calling for unity “in the face of the foreseeable condemnation of the political leaders and entities that serves to resume the path to independence and bring the objective back on the top of the agenda.”

Regarding the discomfort expressed by ERC with ANC’s strategy in the last few weeks, Paluzie pointed out that “it depends on the moment and the strategy adopted, the ANC may disturb one party or another.” She also made it clear that if there were people who ever insulted ERC leaders in a demonstration, it is an “isolated fact that the ANC does not support at all […] we have to be very hard in the content, but very elegant in the forms,” added Elisenda Paluzie

13 International Observers Denounce Violation of Human Rights During the Independence Trial

The International Trial Watch (ITW) platform has published thirteen reports of human rights activists and jurists around the world who attended the Independence Trial.

Each report written by these observers is autonomous. The ITW has not intervened in the drafting and has limited itself to coordinating and grouping them in this publication.

The authors of the reports include John Philpot – Canadian lawyer, Paul Newman – Indian philosopher and former spokesperson for the People’s Tribunal/Court of Sri Lanka, Bill Bowring – European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights, Jelle Klaas – Nederlands Juristen Comité Voor De Mensenrechten, Patrizio Gonella and Susanna Marietti – Antigone, Matthieu Cretenand – University of Geneva, Cécile Brandely and Claire Dujardin – French Lawyers’ Union (AED), Ernesto Moreau – Argentinian lawyer, Sahar Francis – Defense and Human Rights Association Addameer, Cristina Servan Melero – Pro-Human Rights Association of Andalusia, Ramón Campos García and Ana Sebastián Gascón – Free Association of Lawyers of Zaragoza, and Joseba Belaustegi Cuesta – member of the Basque platform Jurists for the Right to Decide.

John Philipot, for example, considers that “The essence of this trial is to criminalize the exercise of civil and political rights. The Spanish state is treating these twelve politicians and social leaders fundamentally as a single criminal organization as if they were drug traffickers or an organized crime syndicate.”

Paul Newman concludes that “the only violence that occurred during the 2017 October 1st independence referendum was committed by the Spanish police and the Civil Guard, not the Catalan government.” He also points out that “everyone has the inherent right to self-determination.”

Jelle Klaas, who focuses his argument in the case of Jordi Cuixart, says “Arresting, detaining, and prosecuting Cuixart and asking for a 17 years prison sentence, in essence, is the fact that he made use of his human rights to protest.”

Claire Dujardin defines the trial as a “judicial farce.”

Sahar Francis of the Defense and Human Rights Association Addameer, an expert in the defense of Palestinian political prisoners in the military courts, comes to assure that “some of these practices [witnessed at the Supreme Court] are very similar to those of the military prosecution of the occupation.”

All experts agree that in Spain fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, are being violated, and that it is affecting the entire Spanish population. They also affirm that the essence of the trial “is to criminalize the exercise of civil and political rights.”

The International Trial Watch (ITW) Observers Platform Presents its Own Report on the Independence Trial to the UN

The International Trial Watch (ITW) observers platform has presented its own report on the Independence Trial to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the occasion of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that will be held on Spain at the session of the Human Rights Council in January 2020.

This is a Shadow Report, which is sent by NGOs to different UN bodies for reviewing the status of human rights amongst the various UN State Members.

In thirteen pages, the report brings together the human rights violations committed by Spain and the police and judicial repression against the independence movement since 2017. The first part shows the violent response of the State against the 2017 independence referendum. The second part shows the criminalization of the right to protest of the Catalans and also condemns the accusations of rebellion and sedition against jailed Catalan leaders Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, both in preemptive prison for over two years, for participating in peaceful demonstrations in September 2017 as leaders of the two pro-independence civil society organizations Òmnium and ANC respectively. A third part shows the allegations of violations of defense rights during the Independence Trial, demonstrating that the defendants have not had a fair trial with an impartial tribunal or even with the competence to judge them.

This document will be part of the test that Spain will send in January. It is a procedure that all UN Member States submit every four years. The situation of human rights of the state in question is reviewed, regardless of the ratification of international treaties.

The exam consists of a dialogue between the members of the Human Rights Council and the state examined, in this case Spain. The test ends with recommendations from the members of the council to the State, which must indicate whether to accept them totally or partially, or if they do not accept them.

International Trial Watch (ITW) will be able to participate in a session that will be organized in Geneva later this year. On this day, the permanent delegations of the states in Geneva and the NGOs and entities that have sent written contributions will meet.

If, at the end of all this procedure, there are some recommendations to Spain for having violated human rights against the independence movement, this can be important in political and image terms, but not judicially since this is not binding.

Summary Last Week of Independence Trial: June 11 and 12

June 11, Day 51 of Trial

CLOSING ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENSE

– Andreu Van den Eynde, representing the former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras and foreign minister Raül Romeva:

“I still don’t know when this uprising is taking place. The people did not go out to topple the state, they went to vote and protest. The defendants refused violence, no message where they promote it has been found. However, they have found many messages where the accused defend peace. It’s about knowing if a politician has the right to speak about self-determination. Freedom of expression also protects the opinions that hurt.”

Andreu Van den Eynde also referred to the trial verdict, which is expected to be announced sometime between July and October, as an “opportunity to resolve the conflict by returning the conflict to politics.”

– Xavier Melero, representing the former interior minister Joaquim Forn:

“The Catalan government breached its own declaration of independence and instead made provisions for the application of Article 155 [the suspension of self-rule in Catalonia]. I am aware that this may annoy some people.”

– Lawyer Pina, representing the former ministers Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Jordi Sànchez: 

“The passive resistance shown by citizens is incompatible with the concept of a public uprising.”

– Josep Riba, representing the former justice minister Carles Mundó, refuted the charge of misuse of public funds:

“There is no evidence that the Catalan government spent anything on the referendum logistics or ballot boxes.”

 

June 12, Day 52 of Trial

CLOSING ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENSE 

– Marina Roig, representing the President of the grassroots organization Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart:

“There is no democracy without democracy, and there is no democracy without citizen participation.” 

She also said that “criminalizing public protest can have dangerous consequences for fundamental rights in Spain.”

– Olga Arderiu, representing the former speaker Carme Forcadell:

“The prosecutors emphasized in their final reports her role as pro-independence civic organization Catalan National Assembly (ANC)‘s president until 2015 – even though the events she is supposed to be tried for happened in 2017.”

She also complained that her client is facing a 17-year prison sentence for rebellion when the other former Catalan parliament bureau members are being prosecuted for disobedience, which does not carry prison time.

– Former Governance, Public Administration, and Housing Minister Meritxell Borràs’ lawyer rejected the allegations of misuse of public funds and complained of what she described as the prosecutors’ “bias.”

– Mariano Bergés, representing the former work, social affairs, and families minister Dolors Bassa: 

“They intended to achieve independence by voting and through dialogue. What happened in September 2017 was not violence. The pro-independence demonstrations were always peaceful. ” 

DEFENDANTS’ FINAL STATEMENTS

Former Catalan Vice-President Oriol Junqueras

“It’s time for the Catalan question to return to the political sphere of dialogue and negotiation, which it should never have left.”

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Raül Romeva

“Today it is us, tomorrow it could be anyone.”

Former Interior Minister Joaquim Forn

“The Catalan question can only ever be resolved through dialogue.”

Former President’s Office Minister Jordi Turull

“Decapitating us will not decapitate the independence movement or the desire for independence and self-determination in Catalonia.”

Former Territory and Sustainability Minister Josep Rull

“Self-determination is simple and transcendental. There will always be more people following us. There are not enough prisons to lock up our desire for freedom.”

Former Leader of the Pro-Independence Organization ANC Jordi Sànchez

“This is an enormous injustice, not only for me and for the other pro-independence prisoners but in general around Spain.”

Former Catalan Parliament Speaker Carme Forcadell

“I’m being judged for who I am, not the facts.”

Former Work, Social Affairs, and Families Minister Dolors Bassa

“Many generations to come will depend on this verdict, which has the potential to provide a solution.”

President of Pro-independence Grassroots Organization Òmnium Cultural Jordi Cuixart

“If police violence could not stop thousands of people from voting in the referendum, does anyone believe that a sentence will cause Catalans to stop fighting for their rights? I would do the same of what I am accused of again. We will do it again!”

Former Business Minister Santi Vila

“The government had been negotiating a possible legal alternative to independence declaration until the last minute.”

Former Governance, Public Administration, and Housing Minister Meritxell Borràs

“New politicians will come and the longing of a sizeable proportion of the Catalan people to decide how we want to fit into a modern Europe will continue.”

Former Justice Minister Carles Mundó

“Taking political issues to the courts does no favors to politics and nor does it help the judiciary”

Additional Information

– The verdict is expected to be announced sometime between the end of July and October.

– A harsh sentence would be seen as a dissuasive punishment for the leaders, and the whole independence camp, which would likely provoke indignation across Catalonia, which could lead to an indefinite general strike or even to a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI).

Summary Penultimate Week of Independence Trial: June 4

On Tuesday, the concluding statements from the prosecuting lawyers (at the Supreme Court trial of 12 Catalan political leaders) were heard:

– Spain’s Public Prosecutor affirmed that the 2017 Catalan independence referendum was “a coup d’état.”

– Attorney Javier Zaragoza affirmed that the roadmap to independence, including a referendum and a declaration of independence in 2017, was a violent insurrection, uprising, involving coercion.

“It was a serious attack on the foundations of the constitution with illegal, coercive methods, using violence when needed,” he said.

Zaragoza also said that the 9 jailed Catalan leaders were not political prisoners.

“There are no political prisoners, they are not political prisoners,” he insisted. He also rejected the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s report urging the “immediate” release of the leaders, accusing the institution of ignoring Spain’s arguments.

– Spanish prosecutor Moreno: “There was violence, it was necessary for their cause, they knew the vote would provoke confrontations, and yet they still called people to vote knowing what would happen.”

– Public Prosecutor Fidel Cadena said that the jailed Catalan leaders should be charged with rebellion because “they violated the constitution and the foundations of the Spanish state.”

– Rosa María Seoane, the Solicitor General, affirmed that the “trial against the Catalan leaders is completely transparent” and denied that their right to defense was undermined during the process.

– The popular prosecutor of the far-right Vox party, accused the political prisoners of perpetrating “the most sophisticated and original coup d’état against a democracy ever seen in a modern society.”

– Javier Ortega Smith, one of the lawyers for far-right Vox, affirmed that the accused were part of a “criminal organization.”

Vox lawyers concluded by saying that they wanted tough sentences “so that no one dares to attack the constitutional order again.”

Additional Information

– The trial will resume on Tuesday, June 11, at 9.30am with the closing arguments from the defense lawyers. The lawyers will only have one hour to defend each of the accused.

– The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calls for the immediate release of the jailed Catalan leaders Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Cuixart, and Oriol Junqueras.

– “Prosecutors are trying to define a new concept of violence” says defense lawyer.