New developments in cases relating to the police action at Catalonia's 1st October independence referendum nearly five years ago. The judge of Barcelona investigative court number 7 has decided to prosecute three Spanish police officers for causing injuries to members of the public at the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona as well as sending to trial a police shooter who allegedly shot out the right eye of activist Roger Español with a rubber projectile. At the same time, the judge has sent Español himself to trial for a supposed attack on a police officer, allegedly throwing a barrier fence at a police group on Carrer Sardenya in Barcelona on the day of the vote in 2017. Now, the prosecution will have to present its indictment and the date of the trials will be set.
In the resolution, communicated this Tuesday, the judge Francesc Miralles, states that the police shooter (with identifying number UC563) “fired a rubber ball, causing serious injuries to Español, failing to comply with the security measures listed in the circular on the use of the material”. The prosecution presented by Roger Español, represented by criminal lawyer Anaïs Franquesa, provided a large number of videos and the Mossos d'Esquadra police were able to identify the gunman.
Impunity
The co-director of human rights group Irídia, Andrés Garcia Berrio, described the fact that the alleged police shooter had been sent to trial as "very positive", stating that "for the first time", an officer who fired rubber bullets at a member of the public had been identified, through a report from the Mossos police. He added that thanks to "citizen collaboration", which provided many videos of the events, as well as journalists, it was possible to identify the Spanish police officer and "take a step forward against impunity." However, the lawyer regretted that the unit commanders that were close to the officer who fired the projectile have not been arraigned, and that a report from the Mossos on how many rubber bullets were fired at Roger Español is still pending.
Last June, the Barcelona Audience ruled in favour of Español's assertion that the action that caused his injury could have been malicious or deliberate, and that the judicial procedure therefore had to be transformed. "The account of the facts in the circumstances that appear in the case may respond either to an action involving malice and one involving recklessness, without any of these options being able to be discarded", the court affirmed.
More officers
In today's ruling, the judge details that he is sending to trial the officer with primary responsibility for the police action at the school (with ID number UC50), of whom he states that "he was the first to use the police defence against the people sitting on the ground, then ordering his subordinates to also use it”, and that this officer also "ordered and allowed the use of rubber projectiles, outside the circumstance provided for their use in the internal police circular”. He also rules to send two officers (with numbers UC53 and UC51) to trial, for the use of "the police defence" on the people sitting on the ground, “allegedly in breach of the regulations regarding the use of means and the use of police defence”.
Case open
At the same time, the judge of Barcelona investigative court number 7 is also finalizing the investigation into the police action in 15 schools in Barcelona, where there are about seventy officers under investigation. The civil society groups the ANC, Òmnium and Irídia asked for the investigation to also include about 30 more. The Barcelona Audience must resolve the request, as the judge did not accept all of the charges.