Referendum voters ‘had a violent attitude,’ testify Spanish police officers

Spanish Guardia Civil officers told the Supreme Court of the violence they allegedly experienced from voters during the independence referendum.

Agents appeared as witnesses in the trial of 12 Catalan politicians and activists, in the dock for their role in the independence bid.

The police officers, who remain anonymous for legal reasons, took part in operations to dismantle the referendum logistics on the day of the vote, and testified about the “violent attitude” of civilians towards them.

An officer claimed that “all people [at the polling station] had a violent attitude,” and criticized the “passive” behavior of the Catalan police while their Spanish counterparts were being “attacked.” He claimed he didn’t attack any civilian during the operations, nor did he see any of his colleagues do similar.

Another Spanish Guardia Civil officer recounted the incident when he was punched in the mouth by a voter, and said: “They stole my helmet, I was kicked and scraped.”

In the afternoon session, more than a dozen more police officers will take to the stand to give their accounts of what happened on Oct 1, 2017.

Follow the latest developments here

Tweets by catalannews