Hywel Williams, an MP in Westminster for Plaid Cymru and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Catalonia (APPG), has today attended the trial of pro-independence politicians in Madrid. Williams went to the Supreme Court with Chris Bambery, an activist and journalist who was involved in setting up the APPG in 2017 and works as the group's spokesperson.
Williams and Bambery had decided themselves to visit the trial, instead of having been invited by any organisation, watching today's morning and afternoon sessions. They sat on the front row of the audience, reserved for officials, next to Catalan Parliament deputy Xavier Quinquillà.
Before the morning session started, Bambery even managed to exchange a few brief words in English at a distance with the imprisoned president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, without the police officer charged with keeping the audience away from the prisoners trying to stop him.
In the afternoon, his "snatched" conversation was with former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras.
Williams has never made a secret of his opposition to the trial and his support for the imprisoned politicians. He has brought up the subject in the House of Commons in London, was in Catalonia the day of the referendum in 2017 and has been involved in initiatives at a European level.