WriterOn October 1st, the day of the referendum on independence, Spanish Guardia Civil officers entered a school in Callús where people were voting. The mayor stopped them at the door and asked if they had a warrant to enter. The Guardia Civil pushed him to the ground and broke into the polling station. The events are similar to those recorded in other Catalan towns. There are two versions. The mayor’s —a person whom I know and believe, and which appears to be confirmed by video footage recorded at the time— explains that the Guardia Civil knocked him to the ground with a blow from a shield. The Guardia Civil filed a report claiming that the mayor blocked their way, tried to grab the shield, and ended up falling to the ground. The two accounts are not the same. Based on his version, the mayor reported the Guardia Civil for assaulting him. Based on the Guardia Civil´s version, a judge has now pressed charges against him for disobeying the authority.
I find it a paradigmatic case of what has happened in recent months. We have some events. The Spanish police present their own version of them, which often clashes with recorded images or the accounts of eyewitnesses. But the justice system makes a decision based on the police reports, which are biased and speak of disobedience, tumult, and violence. The account of those in charge prevails. And their account turns the victim into the aggressor.
