Independence trial week 6: time for Spanish police officers

The independence trial will begin its sixth week on Tuesday, with 24 Spanish Guardia Civil police officers summoned as witnesses through Thursday.

Day 18 of the trial will start on Tuesday at 9:30am with two witnesses pending from last week: one will be the deputy secretary of Spain's finance ministry during the 2017 crisis, Felipe Martínez.

He was one of the highest-ranking officials for the department that took over Catalonia's finances during that period, under former finance minister Cristóbal Montoro, who also testified in the independence trial.

The other is David Badal, a public servant in the Catalan labor ministry.

Police officers requested by prosecution

After them, seven Spanish Guardia Civil police officers will testify, with seven more taking the stand on Wednesday, and another 10 giving testimony on Thursday.

All of them are witnesses requested by the public prosecutor or Spain's solicitor general.

According to defense sources, they took part in the raids ordered by Spain's judiciary of Catalan public buildings and also private companies aimed at dismantling the logistics for the referendum.

Some of the officers will give testimony on their role and what they saw during the contentious September 20, 2017 raids –and subsequent protests– outside Catalonia's economy department.

The rallies outside the building prompted Spain's judiciary to initially accuse two pro-independence civic leaders of sedition, and then of rebellion. Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez face a potential 17-year prison sentence demanded by the public prosecutor.