Catalonia Police Chief Appears in Court Amid Sedition Investigation
Chief Trapero had been summoned by the national government in Madrid after officers from Catalonia’s autonomous police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, were accused of failing to assist Spanish
police officers who were trapped for hours on Sept. 20 in a government building in Barcelona, the Catalan capital, while surrounded by tens of thousands of pro-independence demonstrators.
6, 2017
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s police chief appeared in Spain’s national court on Friday to answer claims
that his officers had failed to protect their Spanish colleagues during pro-independence demonstrations, an accusation that could lead to sedition charges.
If Catalan separatists were to declare independence unilaterally, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, would most likely use emergency
powers to take full administrative control of Catalonia, which could involve replacing the Mossos with thousands of Spanish police officers.
"If we’re really heading for a unilateral declaration of independence, there will be an important departure of companies from Catalonia, which would cause very serious damage to Catalonia." This week, Mr. Puigdemont, Catalonia’s leader, requested international mediation to help resolve the conflict,
but the proposal was rejected by the prime minister and fell on deaf ears in Brussels and other capitals in the European Union.
The national court also summoned another Catalan police official, Teresa Laplana,
and the leaders of the two main Catalan pro-independence civil groups — Jordi Sanchez of the Catalan National Assembly and Jordi Cuixart of Omnium Cultural — to explain their role in the protests.
Separatist lawmakers have vowed to turn the results of the referendum into a unilateral declaration of independence
next week, despite an order from Spain’s Constitutional Court to suspend the parliamentary session.