Catalan trial week 13: Public servants and dozens of voters to give testimony

Former Mayor of Barcelona Xavier Trias is the headline witness on Week 13 of the Catalan trial at the Supreme Court in Madrid.

The pro-independence EU election candidate has been called by the defenses of accused activists Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart to testify about the events of September 20, 2017 at a demonstration two weeks before the contested independence referendum where prosecutors believe that they incited violence.

A chief inspector and deputy inspector of the Catalan police force, who commanded the anti-riot unit at the protest, will also appear for cross-examination in the coming days, as well as the general secretary of the Catalonia branch of Spain's largest trade union, Javier Pacheco, who was one of the organizers of the rally.

The proceedings reopen on Monday morning with a total of seven Catalan police witnesses, including two carried over from last week. Those are the head of medium-sized command units in the Mossos d'Esquadra, Josep Guiliot, and its superintendent responsible for Barcelona and the rest of central Catalonia, Sergi Pla.

From Tuesday, the court will hear testimonies from dozens of members of the public who voted in the October 1 referendum about their experiences at the polling stations. More than 50 Catalan voters have been called to take part.