“We were beaten up”: voters in the 2017 referendum speak of police violence

The trial of the Catalan political leaders entered a new phase this Tuesday with the testimony of members of the public who were at the receiving end of the police crackdown at polling stations on 1 October 2017, during the referendum on Catalan self-determination. Following the homogeneous version of events supplied by Spanish police officers over the last few weeks —blaming voters for causing the outbreaks of violence— a fresh perspective has emerged: that the Spanish police were responsible for the violence and that the attitude of the voters was largely peaceful. On the whole, protesters were taken by surprise by the level of violence employed by the Spanish police during the operation.

According to Santi Valls, the president of Esquerra Republicana (ERC) in Sabadell, "The only kicking and shoving I saw was carried out by the police against voters". He went on to say that he saw the officers pushing people to the ground and pulling them by the hair. Another witness at the same polling station was the Deputy Mayor of Sabadell, Juli Fernàndez, who described how four police officers dragged him away from the front of the school, breaking his glasses, bag and jacket in the process. Another voter, Jordi Torrent, who was at El Pi Gros school de Sant Cebrià de Vallalta, declared that he "didn’t see anyone hitting the police". When the prosecutor, Javier Zaragoza, asked him if he was aware "that five officers were injured", he replied that he "didn’t know".

Another member of the public from Sabadell, Pilar Calderón, was acting as an election observer for ERC on the day of the referendum. In response to a question from the State Prosecutor, Rosa María Seoane, she admitted that the crowd of voters outside the school gates prevented the police from entering the polling station. At the end of the cross examination, Dolors Bassa’s lawyer, Mariano Bergés, put a question to the witness via the president of the court: "In what way did they impede access?" Manuel Marchena asked the question and Calderón replied that everyone was seated on the floor with their hands raised in the air. This is not a minor detail, since it relates to the crime of sedition, which involves a tumultuous uprising to prevent the police from exercising their authority.

When the prosecutor Jaime Moreno pursued the same line of questioning, Fernàndez tried to dodge the question, responding that “people wanted to exercise their right to protest", denying that the protestors physically tried to stop themselves from being moved aside. He underscored the fact that he only saw people acting "passively". At the Nostra Llar school, people were able to vote later on, as the police never seized the election material.

“We were beaten up”

One of the places where the Guardia Civil acted most forcefully was the San Carles de la Ràpita exhibition hall. One of the residents, Joan Pau Salvadó, stated that the officers "came bursting in" without attempting to talk to the protestors beforehand. He stated that he saw a lot of blood and that the tallest people who bent down were hit on the head, as well as being hit on their lower body and legs. “We were beaten up”, Salvadó declared. He insisted that the voters remained peaceful at all times. They acted in a non-violent manner and did not shout insults at the police officers.

In response to questions from the Prosecutor's Office, Salvadó replied that the will of the voters was "to express themselves in a peaceful manner" and not to prevent the police from doing their job, as Fidel Cadena suggested. Salvadó also denied having seen anyone throw a helmet, stones or a coin at the officers or their vehicles. "I saw it later in the newspaper", he declared, adding that he opposed the throwing of stones but that he can appreciate why it happened, as a "response" to police brutality. Next, the Deputy Mayor of Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Albert Salvadó, painted a similar picture of the events at the polling place and mentioned the names of some of the residents who were injured in the police operation.

"Most of them wept with rage and a feeling of helplessness and, I’m sure that thanks to the wall it was easier to beat the people who had their hands in the air", Salvadó stated when Moreno asked what the public hoped to achieve with the "containment wall" mentioned in witness statements. Earlier, Salvadó attempted to not to answer directly when asked if he was aware that the Guardia Civil had a court order to prevent the vote from going ahead. Marchena intervened to advise him that he had the right to refuse to answer due to the fact that is currently being investigated by the court in Amposta for misuse of public funds, official misconduct and disobedience, leading Salvadó to respond by saying that he "was unaware of the fact". When Seoane asked him if he knew why reinforcements were sent to Catalonia, he replied "They were coming to get us". In reply to a question from Xavier Melero, he declared that the charges were brought against him following a report by the Mossos d'Esquadra on the very day of the referendum.

The mayor of Fonollosa, Eloi Hernández, stated that he saw the Guardia Civil arrest and handcuff an individual "for no reason" during an operation which took place at the town hall building, which was being used as a polling station. According to Hernández, "He was lying handcuffed on the floor for 15 minutes and then let go", something he described as "unwarranted". In fact, a judge in Manresa is investigating three police officers for illegal detention. Hernández is also being investigated as part of the same case, but for disobedience. The former ERC MP for Tarragona, Laura Castel also spoke of police violence on 1 October. "A friend of mine had their head cut open with a truncheon blow. The use of violence was extreme and uncalled for", she stated.