Activist Cuixart testifies in Catalan Trial

Week 3 of the Catalan Trial started on Tuesday with the testimony of the grassroots political leader Jordi Cuixart, prosecuted for rebellion in the case. 

He was the eleventh defendant to take the stand, and will precede the former parlament speaker, Carme Forcadell, who will put to an end the testimonies of the prosecuted leaders. 

Cuixart was the president of the pro-independence civic organization Òmnium during the 2017 peak of the Catalonia-Spain conflict, and he is still leading the association. 

Almost 500 days in pre-trial jail

He has been incarcerated for 497 days pending his trial and is the only official to be judged who has never held any public post in politics, not even after the 2017 vote. 

Sept 20, 2017 protests

Along with Jordi Sànchez, Cuixart led a protest outside the Catalan economy department on September 20, 2017, as a response to Spanish police raids against the referendum organization.  

No-one was injured but the protest was considered a “tumultuous” one by Spain’s government and then judiciary, and Cuixart was charged with sedition, and then rebellion. The grassroots leader maintains all pro-independence demonstrations in that period were peaceful.