Catalan government officials deny misuse of public funds on Day 43 of Catalan Trial

Spain’s Supreme Court started off Day 43 of the Catalan Trial with the testimonies of referendum voters followed by declarations from former CUP MP Mireia Boya, Head of the Legal Department Francesc Esteve and Head of Public Procurement Mercè Corretja.

Officials deny misuse public funds

Francesc Esteve, the head of the government’s legal department, testified that he was not aware of any irregular payments made by the Catalan government for the referendum, and even stated that if he had known of any illegal activity he would have warned members of government and informed the judicial authority.

He also told the court that the IT department shut down 26 of the 27 computer systems that had been banned by Spanish courts before October 1.

Head of Public Procurement Mercè Corretja affirmed that she had personally searched the public contracts registry various times in case she came across any referendum-related government payments and said that she hadn’t found anything at all.

Corretja also reminded the court that Catalan government accounts had been blocked by Spain 15 days prior to the vote.

September 20 Catalan Economy Department protest

Former CUP MP Mireia Boya, speaking of the protest on September 20, 2017 outside the Catalan Economy Department, told the court that she had argued with former Assemblea Nacional Catalana leader Jordi Sànchez over whether to call the protest off or not.

Boya said she believed in the right of the people to manifest their discontent and initially disagreed with Sanchez’ view that the protest should be ended, but then agreed they would have the opportunity to protest over the coming days.