BarcelonaThe judicial timing had willed that the final session of the trial against the national police officers who blinded the activist Roger Español would be held on October 1st, seven years after the day of the referendum in which the pro-independence activist was mutilated. This Thursday, however, there were several plot twists: the session was suspended around eleven o'clock because Inspector Ángel Diego Vaquera Alonso –number 73861– alleged having suffered "a health problem" that "forced him to move to a hospital center" to undergo "tests", according to his defense; and at one o'clock it resumed with the patient in the courtroom with the goal of finishing the judicial session as planned.
The judge had demanded "proof" from the defense, which the court examined and understood the absence as "justified": the accused went to the Sagrada Família clinic, in the emergency department, due to health problems related to "arterial hypertension and he had to undergo tests at the hospital center". His discharge at 11:20 a.m., however, allowed him to arrive at the Palace of Justice. At one o'clock, however, the session allowed for the viewing of a video of the mutilation incident, before moving on to the statements, the main event.
Grotesque start
The magistrate, moreover, had declared in the morning his intention to resume the session this very Thursday. This Thursday's session began more than half an hour late with respect to the scheduled time and without Español's prosecution knowing why. The delay was caused precisely by the inspector's no-show, but the activist's lawyers were unaware of it, something the judge himself reproached the State Attorney's Office for, which is in the eye of the storm of criticism. Lawyer Benet Salellas was blunt: "No one communicated this circumstance to us; in terms of procedural courtesy, it is rectifiable," he began by saying. And he made a direct request: "Given the non-appearance of an accused for whom we are requesting 13 years in prison, we must request an immediate search and arrest warrant, we must request a detention order because this would be a case of non-appearance," he stated, and he demanded, furthermore, to "bring him by force." Finally, he came motu proprio.
The judge was understanding of his words, something that, de facto, ended up pointing out the State Attorney's Office for not having communicated anything to the prosecution: "He understands and shares them, the court delayed it because it knew the circumstance," he said. In any case, he pointed out that "there is no reason to cast doubt on the information that has been conveyed to him regarding the health problems" of the inspector. However, the magistrate refused to adopt "any measure" of search and arrest because "there is no reason," he said, to distrust it for now, given that "the desire to testify" of the accused has been conveyed to him.
Controversial statement
It should be remembered that this Thursday the indicted national police officers are testifying. Among the accused are the inspector in question, who is the head of the unit, the sub-inspector, another sub-inspector from the area, and the shotgunner who fired at Roger Español.
In Wednesday's session, the expert testimony from the Mossos also clarified that the shotgunner is the one who fired at Español. For the first time, it was established without any of the parties questioning it. The Mossos confirmed that this shotgunner used the weapon in the direction of the area where Roger was up to three times. The weapons experts from Omega explained that the way of firing could cause the ricochet to rise and reach such delicate areas as the head.
It is true, however, that the Mossos reported that the police officer did not aim directly at Roger Español, but for Irídia and the activist's defense, this circumstance and the ricochet effect of the projectile do not prevent confirming the brutality of the action that 1-O. This is the only case of police violence during the referendum that is being tried without the amnesty having been applied to the officers due to the gravity of the events. 97% of the police officers have received the grace of the criminal oblivion law of the 'Procés'.
Pro-independence support for Roger Español
Before the session began, there was a pro-independence demonstration in support of Roger Español with Òmnium, the ANC, Irídia, Junts, ERC, and the CUP. In a statement to the media, Español emphasized that he intends for the four accused police officers to be convicted, and therefore, for the "police brutality" of the State to be condemned as well. At the same time, he vindicated the October 1st referendum and called for rubber bullets to be banned, as did Carles Guillot, another mutilated person and founder of Stop Rubber Bullets. Meanwhile, lawyer and director of Irídia, Anaïs Franquesa, assured that all "expert evidence" has been collected to achieve a guilty verdict.
In parallel, the president of Òmnium and the president of the ANC, Xavier Antich and Josep Vila, maintained that the pro-independence struggle "continues" and expressed their support for the activist, as did the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, who said that "it is regrettable" that justice has still not been served "nine years later".