Three years after the independence referendum: Catalonia's then police chief acquitted

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Ex-Police Chief Josep Lluis Trapero at the start of the trial in October 2017

Photo: Paul White / AP

Former Catalan police chief Josep Lluís Trapero has been acquitted of allegations of rioting and the formation of a criminal organization.

The indictment was in connection with the independence referendum of 2017. Trapero did not cooperate with the separatists around the then regional president Carles Puigdemont to make the referendum possible, said the National Court of Justice in Madrid.

In addition to Trapero, the three co-defendants and politicians Teresa Laplana, César Puig and Pere Soler were acquitted.

At the time of the referendum, they all held high positions in the regional security authorities or in the Catalan Ministry of the Interior.

If convicted, they faced prison terms of up to 15 years.

After the unconstitutional referendum on the secession of Catalonia from Spain, the 55-year-old Trapero was removed from office by the central government in Madrid in October 2017.

The authorities suspected him of cooperating with the separatists in the referendum and demonstrations against the central government.

A few weeks earlier, Trapero had gained a lot of reputation across Spain for investigating the terrorist attacks in Barcelona in August 2017.

The then Catalan regional president Puigdemont eludes the Spanish judiciary to this day.

He and several other separatist politicians had fled to Belgium after the failed attempt at secession.

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