Trial of Catalonia independence leaders


The trial of Catalonia independence leaders, legally named Causa Especial 20907/2017 and popularly known as the Causa del procés, was an oral trial that began on 12 February 2019 in the Supreme Court of Spain. The case was tried by seven judges and was chaired by judge Manuel Marchena. Judge had previously coordinated an instruction between October 2017 and July 2018, as a result of which 12 people were tried, including the previous vice president Oriol Junqueras of the regional government and most of the cabinet as well as political activists Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart and the former Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia Carme Forcadell. Some defendants remained in pre-trial detention without bail from the beginning of the instruction process and have thus already served part of their sentence.
The accused were tried for the events surrounding the organization and celebration of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum after it was declared illegal and was suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain, the passing of laws to override the Constitution of Spain and Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia that were declared illegal and the Catalan declaration of independence on 27 October 2017.
The trial proceedings officially ended on 12 June 2019. A unanimous verdict by the seven judges that tried the case was made public on 14 October 2019. Nine of the 12 accused received prison sentences for the crimes of sedition; of them, four were also found guilty of misuse of public funds. Their sentences ranged from 9 to 13 years. The remaining three accused were found guilty of disobedience and were sentenced to pay a fine but received no prison term. The court dismissed the charges of rebellion. Some of the defendants of the trial have expressed their intention to appeal to the Constitutional Court of Spain and the European Court of Human Rights. The verdict delivered by the Supreme Court sparked multiple protests across the region.

Background

Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain, with the capital in Barcelona. As the County of Barcelona, it joined the Crown of Aragon in the 12th century. The whole of the Crown of Aragon united at the end of the 15th century with the Crown of Castile. Today, Catalonia is part of modern Spain. The inhabitants of the region are mostly bilingual in Spanish and in Catalan, and have a distinct linguistic, cultural and historical heritage. Despite belonging to Spain, throughout the history of the region, separatist movements have existed at various moments in the past.
On 9 November 2014, a non-binding 2014 Catalan self-determination referendum was held. After the Spanish Government refused to allow a binding referendum, pro-independence parties called for the 2015 Catalan regional election to be considered a plebiscite, with the promise to declare independence in 18 months. Pro-independence parties earned a majority in the Parliament but were backed by less than 50% of the voters. In September 2017, the Parliament of Catalonia approved the Law of the referendum on self-determination of Catalonia, as well as the Law of juridical transition and foundation of the Republic which was to be applied two days after the referendum results were made public and would override the Constitution of Spain and Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia while providing the Parliament with special powers to declare the secession of Catalonia from the Kingdom of Spain. Both laws were declared illegal by the Constitutional Court of Spain. The 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which was called by the Generalitat de Catalunya on 1 October 2017, was also suspended by the same court. Despite this ruling, the referendum went ahead. On 10 October 2017, the President of the Catalan Government Carles Puigdemont addressed the Parliament of Catalonia, but did not unambiguously declare independence. On 27 October 2017, the Parliament of Catalonia passed a resolution declaring the independence of Catalonia, but no actions were initiated to enforce it. Hours later, the Government of Spain seized control of the Generalitat, invoking Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. Subsequently, some of the independence leaders were sent to preventive detention without bail, accused of crimes of rebellion, disobedience, and misuse of public funds. Carles Puigdemont and four members of his cabinet fled into self-exile.

Prosecutors

The prosecution was formed by the State Prosecutor's Office and the State Attorney's Office, with the right-wing political party Vox as public prosecutor. The defendants were accused of the crimes of rebellion, disobedience, and misuse of public funds.
There were a total of 18 people being tried within the context of this case. They are listed below in alphabetical order by their last name, indicating the accusation, the conviction requested and the sentence by the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court

High Court of Justice of Catalonia

The following six defendants were charged in the instruction of the Supreme Court yet it decided to send their cases to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia:

Audiencia Nacional

In addition, the prosecutor of the Spanish National Court is requesting prison time for the former head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Josep Lluís Trapero, and the rest of the Mossos d'Esquadra command in 2017.
The trial began on 20 January 2020 and due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain it was suspended on 13 March 2020. The Audiencia Nacional resumed the trial on 8 June 2020 and the case was remitted for decision on 17 June.
On 8 June, the public prosecutor reduced the penalty against of Josep Lluís Trapero, Cèsar Puig and Pere Soler from 11 years in prison for rebellion to 10 years in prison for a crime of sedition although he announced that they would accept the disqualification for 10 years for sedition and a fine of 60.000€. Likewise, he maintained the request for 4 years in jail against Teresa Laplana.
NamePortraitOfficeChargeRequested
sentence
Josep Lluís Trapero ÁlvarezHead of the Mossos d'Esquadra
  • 10 years imprisonment
  • 10 years disqualification and a fine of 60.000€
    • Director-General of Penitentiary Services and Director of the Mossos d'Esquadra
  • Sedition
  • 10 years imprisonment
  • 10 years disqualification and a fine of 60.000€
    • Cèsar PuigSecretary-General of the Catalan Ministry of Interior
  • Sedition
  • 10 years imprisonment
  • 10 years disqualification and a fine of 60.000€
    • Teresa LaplanaEixample District Head of the Mossos d'Esquadra
  • Sedition
  • 4 years imprisonment
  • 11 years absolute disqualification and 5 months fine

    • Court

    The court was formed of seven members in the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Spain, chaired by Manuel Marchena:
    In September 2018, five of them were recused by six of the defendants. The first four were part of the admission room that processed, on 31 October 2017, the complaint filed by the then Attorney General of the State, José Manuel Maza. One of the grounds for the recusation was that, upon admitting the complaint, these four judges could not guarantee their impartiality, a requirement for all members of the court. The Supreme Court dismissed the challenge and supported their impartiality to prosecute the case.

    Witnesses

    The Supreme Court approved the participation of more than 300 witnesses and refused the declaration of almost 50 others.
    On 27 February 2019, these witnesses were called to testify :
    On 28 February 2019, these witnesses testified :
    On 4 March 2019, these witnesses testified :
    On 5 March 2019, these witnesses testified :
    On 14 March 2019 testified :
    The defendants were accused of the following crimes:
    CrimeArticle of Penal CodeDefendantsCause
    RebellionArticle 472 and concordantOriol Junqueras, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, Josep Rull, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell, Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart20907/2017
    Misuse of public fundsArticle 432 and concordantOriol Junqueras, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, Josep Rull, Dolors Bassa, Meritxell Borràs, Carles Mundó and Santi Vila20907/2017
    DisobedienceArticle 410 and concordantLluís Maria Corominas, Lluís Guinó, Anna Isabel Simó, Ramona Barrufet, Joan Josep Nuet, Mireia Boya, Meritxell Borràs, Carles Mundó and Santi Vila20907/2017

    CrimeArticle of Penal CodeDefendantsCause
    SeditionArticle 544 and concordantOriol Junqueras, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, Josep Rull, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell, Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart20907/2017
    Misuse of public fundsArticle 432 and concordantOriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa20907/2017
    DisobedienceArticle 410 and concordantMeritxell Borràs, Carles Mundó and Santi Vila20907/2017

    Reaction

    Pre-trial

    On 7 March 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reminded Spanish authorities that "pre-trial detention should be considered a measure of last resort", referring to the Catalan politicians and activists arrested after the independence referendum.
    On 15 October 2018, Amnesty International requested the immediate release of the two activists Sánchez and Cuixart, stating that the maintenance of provisional detention was unjustified and considering it an excessive and disproportionate restriction of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, although without referring to them as prisoners of conscience. In November 2018, Amnesty International's Campaigns Director for Europe, Fotis Filippou, announced in a letter addressed to the Jordis that he would supervise the trial "to analyze whether the guarantees of a fair trial were met". Days before the beginning of the trial, Amnesty International asked the Court to allow its observers to attend it in order to evaluate that the guarantees of a fair trial were fulfilled. The Supreme Court refused their request arguing that publicly broadcasting the trial was enough.
    On 21 November 2018, more than 120 professors and law professors published a letter in the digital newspaper eldiario.es stating that neither the acts of 20 September nor 1 and 3 October 2017 saw the violence required in a crime of rebellion. A group of MEPs stated that they wanted to attend the trial as observers.
    On 22 November 2018, the World Organisation Against Torture requested in an open letter addressed to the Spanish government, the Attorney General, and the ombudsman, the immediate release of Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart. The same organization recalled that they had requested for their release several times without success. The day after, the NGO Front Line Defenders also issued a statement calling for the release of Cuixart.
    In December 2018, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers issued a statement requesting the release of "Catalan political prisoners".
    On 1 December 2018, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Turull declared that they were starting a hunger strike to protest against the Constitutional Court's obstacles to their appeals for protection, not allowing them to go to the European Court of Human Rights. At the time after the strike began, the Constitutional Court had eight appeals admitted without a mention of the two prisoners, with them having filed the first appeal on 22 November of the previous year. According to the law on criminal prosecution, these appeals should have been resolved within a maximum period of 30 days. On 3 December 2018, Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn declared that they would join the hunger strike on the following day.
    On 19 December 2018, ex-presidents of the Generalitat, former speakers of the Catalan Parliament, and the Catalan Ombudsman made a public request for the politicians on hunger strike to bring it to an end. They argued that the hunger strike had already given visibility to their situation and was putting their lives in danger. A day later, the prisoners declared that they were stopping the hunger strike, since the protest "has awakened the Constitutional Court" and also since the court had already scheduled the resolution of the appeals filed.
    More than 500 parliamentarians and former parliamentarians from 25 different countries signed a manifesto calling for the release of Carme Forcadell. Among these signatories were 35 MEPs and the presidents of the parliaments of Flanders, Corsica, Faroe Islands and the Basque Country. This initiative was promoted by the ex-presidents of the Catalan parliament Ernest Benach, Núria de Gispert and Joan Rigol.
    On 16 January 2019, the former presidents of the Catalan Parliament, and the Generalitat de Catalunya, along with the Ombudsman at their request, signed an official statement addressed to the Supreme Court asking them to "guarantee the right of defense for the defendants". They requested alternative measures other than imprisonment during the trial for the defendants, as these measures, including daily transfers to and from the prison and extended waiting times in their cells, could "difficult continuous contact with their lawyers and limit active participation in their defense for no legal reason, thus restricting their right".
    On 21 January 2019, the PEN Club International presented a manifesto signed by 148 PEN members from 100 countries around the world, denouncing the "disproportionate charges of sedition and rebellion" against the Jordis. Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa resigned from PEN International in disagreement with the manifesto, claiming it had been pushed by the Catalonian branch of PEN International as part of an "international campaign to disfigure the truth" carried by pro-independence activists.
    On 30 January 2019, the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans stated that the institution has "no reasons to doubt that the right to a fair trial is guaranteed." He added that he has no evidence pointing to "breaches of the principle of the separation of powers or issues in relation to judicial independence in Spain." in reply to a parliamentary question by Josep Maria Terricabras from the pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia party.
    The day before the beginning of the trial, 11 February 2019, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization expressed their support to "the Catalonian activists being tried" and added that "perhaps one of the biggest deficit of justice and deliberate confusion between law and justice, is seen in Catalonia.". On the same day, the European Democratic Lawyers association requested the "immediate" release of the Catalan leaders and expressed their "concern" due to a "lack of procedural guarantees during the trial". The day after, the International Commission of Jurists denounced the trial "unduly restricts rights of freedom of expression, assembly and association".
    On 29 May 2019, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention urged Spain to release Junqueras, Cuixart and Sànchez and to investigate their "arbitrary" detention and the violation of theirs rights, as well as compensating them for the time spent in jail. The Spanish government criticised the report, arguing that the reasoning for their opinion did not take into account some of the alleged crimes. Spain's government issued a statement that raised "doubts" about the group's "independence and impartiality" and called on the U.N. to make sure that its semi-independent working groups are not used "for spurious purposes".

    Post-trial

    On 14 October 2019, a guilty verdict was made public by the Supreme Court of Spain. Nine of the twelve accused were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 13 years after being found guilty of sedition and some of them also with misuse of public funds. This verdict caused various reactions:
    Amnesty International called for the immediate release of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez and denounced the "vague" and "overly broad" interpretation of sedition by the Spanish Supreme Court, stating that it could have negative effects on the freedom to protest in Spain. On the other hand, it also stated that there is no reason to believe this trial to be unfair according to international standards. Furthermore, Amnesty International does not recognize the convicted senior officials as political prisoners or prisoners of conscience.

    Protests

    As soon as the verdict was made public, large crowds of protesters gathered at Barcelona-El Prat Airport following instructions by various pro-independence associations. The protest caused 108 flights to be canceled. National and regional police charged against the demonstrators to disperse the crowds blocking the access to the airport. Some of them threw rocks, cans and used fire extinguishers. Police responded with anti-riot tactics including using batons and foam bullets. 131 protesters and 40 police officers were injured as a result of the clashes at the airport and elsewhere on that day.
    Protests also sparked in multiple places across Catalonia. There were also police charges at the Via Laietana in downtown Barcelona after demonstrators gathered at the national police headquarters, started throwing various objects at the agents who were guarding it. Protesters also blocked various roads across Catalonia as well as part of the train infrastructure and some metro stations. Protesters demanded freedom for the prisoners shouting "This is not justice, this is revenge". The transportation shutdown tactics have been described as inspired by or similar to the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. El País reported that the leaderless group Democratic Tsunami started the airport protest, with one of its members shouting "we're going to do a Hong Kong" in Catalunya Square before the airport shutdown.
    The protests continued into a second day, with groups of demonstrators in towns and cities across Catalonia. Though they started peacefully, some protestors began throwing small items at the police, with some in Barcelona setting fire to public litter bins. The regional government said that violence was limited, and performed by "small groups infiltrated" the peaceful protests. Protestors also remained at the airport, cancelling another 40 flights. More protests were organised for the rest of the week, leading up to a regional strike organised by trade unions on the Friday.

    Statements by those convicted