Catalan leaders' lawyer attacks 'vaudeville' case as trial begins by Sam Jones

Catalan leaders' lawyer attacks 'vaudeville' case as trial begins

Madrid trial of separatists seen as the most important since Spain’s return to democracy

Sam Jones in Madrid

 @swajones

Tue 12 Feb 2019 12.20 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/12/trial-of-catalan-separatist-leaders-begins-in-madrid

A lawyer for two of the 12 Catalan separatist leaders on trial in Madrid has dismissed the case against them as politically motivated and a “procedural vaudeville”.

Dismiss: When a judge dismisses a case against someone, he or she formally states that there is no need for a trial, usually because there is not enough evidence for the case to continue. If you dismiss something, you decide or say that it is not important enough for you to think about or consider.

The dozen defendants appeared at the supreme court on Tuesday to stand trial over their alleged roles in the regional independence crisis that pitched Spain into its worst political turmoil for four decades.

Pitch into: To attack physically or verbally. To set to work on energetically

Turmoil / tɜːʳmɔɪl  /: Turmoil is a state of confusion, disorder, uncertainty, or great anxiety.

Described as the “most important trial since Spain’s return to democracy” following Franco’s death, the proceedings will investigate the parts senior politicians and civil society group leaders played in the run-up to the independence referendum in October 2017 and the subsequent unilateral declaration of independence.

Nine of the defendants – who include the former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, the former speaker of the Catalan parliament Carme Forcadell and two influential grassroots activists, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez – are accused of rebellion, which carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years. Other charges include sedition and the misuse of public funds.

Grassroot: relating to the ordinary people, esp as part of the electorate (de base)

Misuse: The misuse of something is incorrect, careless, or dishonest use of it.

Public funds: Funds are amounts of money that are available to be spent, especially money that is given to an organization or person for a particular purpose.

Junqueras’ lawyer, Andreu Van den Eynde, told the court that prosecutors were trying to criminalise displays of freedom of expression and argued that the defendants had the right to defend the idea of self-determination.

He added: “No international or EU law blocks the secession of a regional entity; self-determination is synonymous with peace and not war.”

Van den Eynde, who is also representing the former Catalan foreign minister, Raül Romeva, said his clients’ right to freedom of expression had been violated. “The political arena is a free space,” he said. “Freedom of expression extends even to those ideas that shock and offend.”

He dismissed the complicated legal process as a “procedural vaudeville” and said it was intended to put Catalan independence itself on trial.

The accused, most of whom were dressed in sober suits, sat in rows of three on four purple benches in the courtroom as the charges were read to them. Opposite them sat the seven judges who are presiding over the case in the ornate courtroom, while close by were the defendants’ lawyers. Journalists from all over the world followed the case from the courtroom or two overflow rooms set up at the supreme court.

Jordi Pina, a lawyer representing the Catalan MP and former civil society leader Jordi Sànchez, called for the court to allow testimony from King Felipe, arguing that the Spanish monarch’s controversial speech two days after the referendum had been cited in prosecution documents.

In the speech, the king accused the Catalan authorities of attempting to break “the unity of Spain” and warned that their push for independence could risk the country’s social and economic stability.

Pina also called for the court to reconsider its decision not to allow testimony from former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont via videolink from Brussels.

The trial, which began shortly after 10.20am on Tuesday and is being broadcast on television, is expected to last three months. Proceedings will focus on the then Catalan government’s decision to hold the referendum despite repeated warnings that it would violate the constitution, which stresses the “indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation”.

Although Catalan pro-independence parties have never managed to win 50% of the vote in the regional parliament, and although polls consistently show Catalonia is roughly evenly split over the independence issue, the government of the then Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, chose to press ahead with the vote.

Pro-independence parties managed to get a law paving the way for the referendum passed in the regional parliament in early September 2017, despite furious objections from opposition MPs, who complained that usual procedures had been disregarded.

Three weeks later, on 1 October, the Catalan government held the referendum, which was marred by violence as Spanish police officers raided polling stations, charged crowds with batons and fired rubber bullets as they tried to stop the vote.

Mar: To mar something means to spoil or damage it.

According to the Catalan government, about 2.3 million of Catalonia’s 5.3 million registered voters – 43% – took part in the referendum, and about 90% of participants backed independence. The vote was largely boycotted by unionist Catalans.

On 27 October, shortly after secessionist Catalan MPs voted to declare independence, the Spanish government of the then prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, won senate backing to sack Puigdemont and his cabinet and assume direct control of Catalonia.

Defence lawyers will seek to undermine the rebellion charges. They will point out that, under Spanish law, rebellion consists of “revolting violently and publicly”, and argue that none of those charged with the offence engaged in violence.

Speaking to the Guardian and a small group of other European reporters in Madrid on the eve of the trial, the Catalan president, Quim Torra, hit out at the charges.

“The only violence we saw throughout September and October was from the Spanish police,” he said.

“They tried to stop citizens from going to vote peacefully on 1 October. But this has all been turned on its head. There was no violence, everyone saw there was no violence.”

The case will once again bring international attention to the enduring tensions between the Madrid government and the pro-independence regional government of Catalonia.

The president of the supreme court, Carlos Lesmes, has described the proceedings as “the most important trial that we’ve held since democracy [returned]”. But on Monday night, Torra said: “As far as we’re concerned, Spanish justice has pretty much zero credibility.”

The Catalan president arrived at the court in central Madrid just before 9.15am. He was heckled by two people who shouted: “Coup perpetrator!” A heavy police presence of officers and vans ringed the supreme court as proceedings began.

Heckle: If people in an audience heckle public speakers or performers, they interrupt them, for example by making rude remarks. He was insulted and heckled mercilessly

The start of the trial led some Catalan pro-independence protesters to briefly block several roads before dawn, setting fire to tyres and holding up traffic.

Protests have been called in Barcelona at 7pm.