A National Police chief, on 1-O: "For the anti-riot squad it did not differ at all from a Champions League final"

BarcelonaThe commanders and police officers testifying at the trial for the loss of an eye of Roger Español on 1-O have shielded the actions of the four national police officers sitting in the dock, the only ones who will face trial for the charges from nine years ago. The colleagues of the accused have insisted on the "violence" and "aggressiveness" of the protesters with statements that in many points were identical to one another, and which the court did not allow to be contrasted at the time with the videos of that day. On the second day of the trial, a superior of the riot police also downplayed the possibility that the shotgunner fired directly at the body, with the weapon parallel to the ground, and asserted that the operation was similar to other actions: "It did not differ at all 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 testimony of this commander was the first of more than twenty police officers who have testified on the second day of the trial. He explained that in the days prior to October 1, 2017, they held "briefings" to inform the agents and relay instructions for the operation. In these meetings, the agents received orders to fire rubber bullets 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 foresaw that the protesters would be very close. Even so, the police commander defended that "the bounce is not mandatory, nor is direct fire prohibited" when aiming directly at the body.

A version that was contradicted by a shotgunner, who asserted that they must always fire by bouncing the projectile: "The ball always with a bounce on the ground, it is what we have been taught". Another shotgunner, who was part of the operation at the Ramon Llull School, explained that the bounce of rubber bullets is unpredictable "because the ball comes out differently each time".

Regarding the officers who participated in the operation, when they were asked to describe the "violence" they attribute to the protesters, they all used the same elements: that they threw lighters, paving stones, and construction materials at them, and that from the balconies they also threw flower pots and bottles at them. The statements from the police officers were also identical when explaining the insults – "Spanish bastards", "sons of bitches" – and the "threats": the officers who testified in the morning agreed that the chants said they would do to them "the same as to the Civil Guard" – in reference to the search of the Ministry of Economy on September 20, 2017 – and in the afternoon two said that they were also shouting "something about ETA" at them. After hearing from about twenty officers during the day, at 6:30 p.m. the judge asked the lawyers to omit the testimonies that would not provide new details, because he had already heard the same words "repeatedly". Out of about fifty officers who were summoned this Thursday, 20 ended up testifying.

The officers' references to the alleged violence or aggressiveness of the protesters may be relevant to the case because the regulations on anti-riot equipment condition its use on there being a risk to the physical integrity of the officers.

Orders from superiors

Another point that has focused the day's interrogations is who gave the order to fire, a key point to clarify the responsibility of the inspector and the two sub-inspectors who are accused along with the shotgunner who shot Españoland who face 13 years in prison.The witnesses have agreed in saying that the order –"rubber bullets"– is always given by a hierarchical superior and is transmitted in a chain to the shotgunners, who from then on choose the specific moment to fire and can do so until they receive the cease-fire order. The officers fired rubber bullets while walking backwards, protecting the vans that were leaving towards Gran Via, in the direction that the helicopter had indicated to them was free, and the protesters were following them.

The curious detail of the day arrived when the prosecution lawyers had to end up questioning the police officers who participated in the operation in Spanish because two interpreters did not understand their questions in Catalan. When the first interpreter asked twice for the question to be repeated, the magistrate proposed suspending the session to look for another one. A few minutes later they had the same problem with a second interpreter, who also could not manage.