A head of the National Police, on 1-O: "For the riot police it did not differ in anything from a Champions League final"

BarcelonaThe commanders and the rest of the agents acting as witnesses shield the actions of the four national police officers who are sitting in the dock for the rubber bullet that mutilated Roger Español's eye during the 1-O. This Thursday, a riot police superior downplayed the fact that the shooter fired the weapon parallel to the ground, and claimed that the riot police deployment was similar to other operations: "It did not differ in any way from a Champions League or Copa Libertadores final, a visit from the Pope, or going to help with the Dana or any other catastrophe."

The witness, the first of about fifty police officers summoned to testify on the second day of the trial, explained that in the days leading up to October 1, 2017, they held "briefings" to inform the agents and convey the instructions for the operation. In these meetings, the agents received orders to fire towards the ground and with an energy reducer, a piece that can be attached to the shotgun and causes the projectile to exit with less power, because they already anticipated that the protesters would be very close. Despite this, the police commander defended that "the bounce is not mandatory, nor is direct fire forbidden" when aiming at the body.

In contrast, a shooter who testified afterwards claimed that they must always fire by bouncing the projectile: "The ball always with a bounce on the ground, that is what we have been taught." A third witness, also a shooter and who was part of the same operation at the Ramon Llull School, explained that the bounce of rubber bullets is unpredictable "because the ball comes out differently every time."

Orders from superiors

The interrogations are also focusing on whether there were grounds to use rubber bullets and who gave the order, a key point to clarify the responsibility not only of the inspector and the two sub-inspectors sitting in the dock with the riot officer who shot Español, who are the only police officers who will stand trial for the 1-O and face 13 years in prison. The witnesses agreed that the order is always given by a hierarchical superior and is transmitted in a chain to the riot officers, who from then on choose the specific moment to fire. The officers fired rubber bullets while walking backward, protecting the departing vans, and the protesters were following them, but at that moment, no one was blocking the vans' exit. Two riot officers explained that they received the order to fire rubber bullets, but another said he never heard it, and that when he saw his colleagues firing, it was already too late because they were being called to get into the vehicles and leave.

The commander who testified first thing in the morning admitted that the regulations on anti-riot equipment condition the use of rubber bullets on there being a risk to the physical integrity of the officers. According to him, there was "a significant risk" because the protesters were being "violent" and had thrown objects at them in such an "aggressive" way that, in his opinion, justified the charges. The rest of the officers who testified during the morning and were part of the operation also referred to this "aggression." They said that the protesters insulted them by calling them "españolazos" and "sons of bitches," and that they threw stones, fences, lighters, and bottles at them, although the throwing is not visible in the images of the day.

Some officers also reported shouts telling them "we will do the same to you as to the Civil Guard", in reference to September 20th during the search of the Department of Economy, when police cars with weapons inside were left open and surrounded by protesters. In fact, some witnesses this Thursday also referred to that day to explain that on October 1st they had express orders to protect the vehicles where they keep their weapons.

Furthermore, the police officers who have testified also claim that before the shots were fired there was an attempt at mediation and that they had fired blanks –detonations without projectiles– to warn the protesters who, according to the first commander, were following them "in an organized manner". "They were warned of what could happen", justified a commander. In a stretch of about fifty meters, which makes up half a block on Sardenya street, 48 blanks and 17 rubber bullets were fired.

Forced to switch to Spanish

The prosecution lawyers ended up questioning the police officers who participated in the operation in Spanish because two interpreters did not understand their questions in Catalan. On Wednesday, on the first day of the trial, an interpreter translated what was said in Catalan. This Thursday, there was a new interpreter to translate for the defendants and the witnesses, national police officers. Her first intervention was supposed to be to follow the questions of the lawyer for Òmnium, Laia Serra. The interpreter asked her twice to repeat the question, until the magistrate proposed suspending the session to find another interpreter.

A few minutes later, another interpreter joined, and she did not succeed either. The lawyer for Español, Benet Salellas, recalled that the law allows any judicial official to translate, but the magistrate ruled it out. Serra continued translating for herself, and, afterwards, all the lawyers ended up asking the questions in Spanish.