Catalan trial could be 'political', claim international observers

The Catalan trial could be "political," with "prepared and orchestrated" statements by Spanish police witnesses, international observers have warned.

International Trial Watch, an NGO set up by Catalan human rights charities, reported the prevalence of vocabulary such as "hate", "insurrection" and "fear" among the two dozen Spanish police officers to have testified so far at the Supreme Court.

The organization underlined that although these were "subjective valuations that do not link the defendants to particular facts", their repeated presence "could denote that these statements have been orchestrated and prepared" and "dilute the testimonies".

Critics of Catalan independence note that the only international observers in Madrid have been brought in by groups sympathetic to the sovereigntist cause, which its supporters contend is the case because the Spanish state refused to install its own.

Puigdemont's lawyer: 'no doubt' about guilty verdict

The report came as Carles Puigdemont's lawyer said he had "no doubt" that the former Catalan leaders currently on trial would be found guilty and that the verdict would be followed by a third European Arrest Warrant for the ousted Catalan president.

"I cannot imagine that a Supreme Court magistrate won't issue a European Arrest Warrant alongside the sentence that he is bound to deliver," Gonzalo Boye told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) at the launch of his book about the events of 2017.

The lawyer suggested, however, that some countries may not be sympathetic with the Spanish courts if they are requested to cooperate for the third time.