THE trial in the Spanish Supreme Court against the leaders of the Catalan independence movement has much more to do with an act of faith than with a 21st century trial in a developed, democratic country in which citizens’ rights are respected.

In a performance more properly belonging to the 16th century, the court ignores pieces of evidence when taking testimony, claiming that all documentary evidence will be seen at once at a later date. Witnesses to the prosecution may lie with the consent of the judges, and the defence is prevented from showing contrasting statements with documents, in paper format or images, videos, and other media relevant in our times.

Only after two or three months, images showing the falsehood of the witnesses will be allowed to be shown. So, will the court open proceedings against false witnesses? Perhaps in a reality parallel to that of the Spanish state; in the present framework, surely not.

The trial is not about laws, regulations and infringements. Behind the figures of the magistrates, there is a state that wants to crush any fundamental dissidents who question the post-Franco regime born after the dictator’s death. Above all, there is the State itself, which was unable to find a single one of the more than 6,000 ballot boxes that Catalan citizens brought into the country – a state mocked by the citizens in its capacity for self-organization, a fundamental fact for understanding the vote on the day of the referendum in spite of brutal repression.

The Spanish state has become vindictive. It comes down hard on those who want Catalan independence but soon democracy in Spain will be nothing more than a hologram to look good before the international community.

Manuel Perez Nespereira,

Sant Fructuos 10, Barcelona.