Spanish justice on Wednesday 21 October acquitted the former heads of the autonomous police of Catalonia, considering that they had not collaborated in the attempted secession of this region of northeastern Spain in 2017. This judgment of the The national hearing has the consequence of avoiding adding fuel to the fire in the tense relations between the central state and Catalonia, led by the separatists.
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"
There is no incriminating element, in view of the elements collected, which reveals an agreement between the defendants to constitute themselves as an instrument of the independence process
", concluded the magistrates of this court of Madrid in their judgment, which confirms information given the day before by judicial sources.
The prosecution had requested ten years in prison against the head of the Catalan regional police (Mossos d'Esquadra), Josep Lluis Trapero, and two other officials of the police and the Catalan Ministry of the Interior, Pere Soler and César Puig, as well than four years in prison for Teresa Laplana, who is an officer in the police.
According to the indictment, this police force, placed under the authority of the regional executive, had disobeyed the decisions of the court, which had ordered it to prevent the illegal referendum of October 1, 2017, marked by violent charges by national security forces against voters.
By a two-to-one majority, the judges, on the contrary, underlined the “
proportionality
” of the use of force by the Mossos d'Esquadra to close polling stations without resorting to violence by riot units.
"
The use of force against defenseless citizens, against the elderly, against entire families, could not be, in this situation, the solution to impose respect for the laws
", noted the court in a barely criticism. veiled from the action of national security forces, under the central government.
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This illegal ballot, which led to the departure of the then regional president, Carles Puigdemont, into exile in Belgium, had many political and legal repercussions.
A year ago, nine separatist leaders were sentenced by the Supreme Court to terms ranging from nine to 13 years in prison for sedition after organizing this illegal referendum and then proclaiming independence in the regional parliament.
These sentences had provoked demonstrations in Catalonia, in particular in Barcelona, scene of five nights of clashes between demonstrators and police.
Since then, the situation has calmed down in this prosperous region of 7.5 million inhabitants where a significant part of society has espoused independence ideas for the past decade.
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