Judge did not order CUP raids

Two police superintendants from the Spanish police force said yesterday that they were waiting for a court order to enter and search the Barcelona headquarters of the CUP (a left wing pro-independence party) on September 20 2017, the very day that a Barcelona judge called for40 detentions and 20 raids to put a stop to the Catalan referendum. The two police chiefs, who are being investigated for serious coercion, said that they received a report that there was referendum propaganda outside CUP headquarters and that they notified Barcelona’s public prosecutor and the judge had said he thought it was a good idea but that he was busy. They did not clarify, however, why they deployed hundreds of officers for six hours (called from different parts of Spain to intervene in the referendum) in two rows between Sardinia street and Marina street, to wait for permission and whether permission was eventually denied by the judge and the prosecutor’s office.

CUP lawyer (and former MP) Benet Salellas, said that the two superintendents “have not clarified why for six hours they sacrificed the freedom of movement of militants and supporters of the CUP, as well as citizens” who went there when they saw the police deployment. Salellas said the police “acted without legal cover”.

Àlex Solà, also a lawyer, gave a statement as a witness as on September 20 he was called on by the CUP to act as a legal mediator and as a member of the defence committee. “I spoke to two agents who were in charge, I identified myself as a lawyer and asked if they had a [court] order, and neither of them answered me” said Solà. The attorney general defending the officers is questioning the presence of police intimidation and maintains that everyone at the demonstration had freedom of movement.