Referendum trial: day 2
Public prosecutors use political arguments to support “rebellion” accusations and stated “there can be no dialogue outside the framework of the constitution”
The interventions made by supreme court prosecutors Javier Zaragoza and Fidel Cadena yesterday would have been more fitting coming from Spanish government representatives than from the Attourney General’s Office. They accused the twelve Catalan independence supporters of having “distorted reality by discrediting the Spanish justice system,” as well as “breaking with constitutional order by approving new laws”; of committing rebellion using citizens “ like human shields” and making “17,000 armed agents” (referring to the Catalan police force) defend Catalan independence, without expanding on this exaggerated affirmation.
The trial’s second day ended at noon, with interventions on preliminary points from the three prosecuting parties. The seven judges withdrew to deliberate on the parties’ requests , and they are expected to respond today and to begin the interrogation of former vice president Oriol Junqueras.
The two veteran public prosecutors’ interventions yesterday left many open-mouthed, as both responded to the issue of the serious violations of human rights raised by the defence using political, rather than legal, arguments. “They said that this is a trial for our democracy. In fact, it is a trial in defense of democracy, as it is happening because of a serious attack to constitutional order” said Zaragoza, who also lectured the defendants as if he were a government minister: “dialogue is always democracy, but within the framework of the constitution”. Zaragoza also denied that this is a trial against the independence movement. and congratulated himself that “the defendants have not claimed that there is a norm or a directive that allows for self-determination.”