Day 8: Mariano Rajoy and Artur Mas testify
(27/02/2019) Judge kicks two CUP witnesses out of court for refusing to answer questions from Vox, fines them € 2,500.
(Original published: 27/02/2019)
Joan Tardà: "this trial is inspired by revenge"
Artur Mas: "never wanted to enter a legal vacuum"
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría: "I had nothing to say about the referendum"
Mariano Rajoy: "Spain is what the Spaniards want it to be"
Cristóbal Montoro: explains accounting concepts to the court
Antonio Baños: expelled from the court
Eulalia Reguant: expelled from the court
Marta Pascal: Puigdemont called the referendum
Nuria de Gispert: independence discussed in parliament "many times"
Esquerra MP Joan Tardà was the first witness to testify in this new phase of the trial of the twelve separatists at the Supreme Court in Madrid. He began with a protest: "I will answer Vox's questions in Catalan…". The presiding judge cut him off immediately: "Look, that's a bad start…".
The judge had reminded everyone just a couple of minutes earlier that he wanted facts and not opinions on other issues. In the first 20 minutes, he again interrupted Mr. Tardà, the private prosecution, Vox, twice, and one of the defence lawyers, all for the same reason.
"This trial is inspired by revenge", Mr. Tardà continued. The events of 2017 in Catalonia were "the will of a defenceless, civic, peaceful and democratic people". He said he had warned the then Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy (PP), that if he opted for "judicialisation and repression" he would end up with "political prisoners and exiles" and "here we are".
He met with the accused, in his capacity as an MP and at party meetings and, like the accused, said that he knew Mr. Jové but did not know about the existence of the strategic document known as "Enfocats".
On the morning of September 20, he arrived at the regional economy ministry building in central Barcelona "by taxi" because he had just been to hospital, "I heard on the radio that citizens were gathering" and it was "my duty" to go. "I began to speak…" to say that "everything had to be done civically [...] and that we will vote".
He stated he did not see any acts of violence and told the court that "Felipe VI gave a speech that endorsed repression".
Artur Mas, the former First Minister of Catalonia, and Carles Puigdemont's predecessor, said that regional government had called the vote on October 1.
There were meetings with Mariano Rajoy's government but Mr. Mas did not characterise them as a "commission" or a "committee", although "it would always be good if we had some people in the middle" to "keep the thread of the dialogue alive". The group concluded "there could be no agreement".
He told the Catalan government the day before the vote that they should never "abandon" the possibility of calling an early regional election as a way out of the crisis.
He denied there was a strategic committee. "The ideas debate" in the ANC and Omnium Cultural reached "the desk of the Catalan Government" but Mr. Puigdemont did not tell him at any time that he had consulted with these organisations. Mr. Mas even sent a chapter of the White Paper, in which "different scenarios" were analysed, to Mr. Rajoy.
He said he knew of the pro-independence organisations March 2015 road map but that "you can make a road map one day, and that road map can be changed into a political programme, or not [...] in any of these phases, the programme may change".
He denied anyone wanted to "enter a legal vacuum", that the appointment of Carme Forcadell as Speaker of the Catalan Parliament had been automatic—the decision was made "in October 2015"—or that there had been talk of taking control of the Catalan Police or critical infrastructure, "at no time was there an operational plan to do what you suggest".
They wanted "the result of the 1-O to be binding from the legal point of view, but that was not achieved".
"The Catalan government never intended to break the data protection law."
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the former Deputy Prime Minister (PP), and the first non-separatist politician to testify in the trial, said she had met three times with the then Catalan Deputy First Minister Oriol Junqueras (ERC), and that on the last occasion, in January 2017, he had told him that "about the referendum, I had nothing to say".
She refused "categorically" to speak about that referendum "because the government of the nation cannot mandate sovereignty […] my duty is to comply with the law [...] if that is to be done, the Constitution must be reformed". Mr. Junqueras "had no interest in other issues". Asked if the accused had spoken about the path of constitutional reform, she answered: "No, never."
"We immediately challenged any act in the regional parliament or in other institutions that might be contrary to the Constitution."
Both she and Mariano Rajoy, who answered questions with energy and enthusiasm, denied knowing much about the details of the police operations or meetings during the period in question. "It was not my job," said the former Deputy PM, who added she was "worried" by the situation with the Catalan Police by the summer of 2017.
They were aware of the acts of violence, and the images of that violence were "public and notorious" and "everybody" saw them in the media. Both leaders assured the court that if voters had not been summoned like that, those images would not have occurred that morning.
Mrs. Sáenz de Santamaría said the government had taken the decision to send police reinforcements to Catalonia on 21 or 22 September 2017, after the events of the 20th in Barcelona. The hotel ship for the reinforcement officers had requested permission to dock on the 19th due to the "anticipatory capacity" of the government.
Both former leaders said the government had opted for the application of Article 155 of the Constitution, to suspend home rule in the region, and not the 116, regarding states of exception, alarma and siege, because "we considered that it was the most appropriate measure in the Constitution" (Santamaría) or " it was better operationally and also more just" (Rajoy).
It was an "intolerable" climate, said Mrs. Sáenz de Santamaría, "they made the decision to go ahead, knowingly, I think it was an absolutely agreed upon strategy". The government filed 63 challenges before the Constitutional Court, "more than 20" on issues of sovereignty. "They were fully aware [...] that I was not going to authorise a referendum to liquidate national sovereignty", said Mr. Rajoy, adding that in his opinion the October 1 vote did not constitute a referendum.
Mr. Rajoy said that in the months and years before the crisis, he had spoken six times with Artur Mas and twice with Carles Puigdemont.
Did they consider constitutional order was at risk? "Of course", said the former Deputy PM. "It was an exceptional situation," said Mr. Rajoy: "a Catalan government cannot break the law or the Constitution or the Statute of Autonomy", adding that he was "frankly concerned" by the situation.
The difference between the consultation on November 9, 2014 and the vote on October 1, 2017 was, in his opinion, the absence of a unilateral declaration of independence the first time and that the first vote was not binding.
"Spain is what Spaniards want it to be, not what some Spaniards want it to be."
Mr. Rajoy said he had been in contact with Iñigo Urkullu, the First Minister of the Basque Country, but he did not remember the details, and denied it was to negotiate, "everyone knew I was not going to negotiate", but to try to convince Mr. Puigdemont to call early elections.
Mr. Urkullu testifies on Thursday.
Cristóbal Montoro, the former Finance Minister, explained some accounting concepts to the court as well as the differences between ordinary budget control and financial investigations into irregularities carried out by the Civil Guard, with whom his ministry had collaborated.
Central government financial controls on the regional government had increased it got closer to October 1, 2017. Mr. Junqueras sent a letter in September refusing to continue with the checks, citing the referendum and transition laws approved by the Catalan Parliament on September 6 and 7.
Former PDeCat senior leader Marta Pascal stated she found out about the strategic document Enfocats via the media, and admitted that Mr. Puigemont had told her that he and his government had decided to call the referendum.
He had not wanted to abandon "the path of dialogue […] at all". On September 20, she saw "peaceful, normal" people and there was a stage with musicians.
Two members of the CUP, Antonio Baños and Eulalia Reguant, refused to answer Vox's questions—"the extreme right", out of "democratic and anti-fascist dignity" (Baños)—and gave the trial its first unexpected moment of drama.
Judge Marchena reminded them of their duty to answer questions from all parties and the possible criminal consequences of their refusal, and he even offered Mr. Baños the possibility of answering Vox's questions if he asked them.
In the end, though, he kicked them both out and fined them €2,500. They will have another chance to testify and, if they continue to refuse, they will be investigated for contempt.
Nuria de Gispert, a former Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, ended the first day of witness testimony by saying "the Speaker's Committee cannot limit parliamentary debate", and that the independence of Catalonia in the regional chamber "many times".
"They were resolutions of a political nature and so cannot be challenged."
The trial continues tomorrow.