Assessment of Catalan trial ‘difficult’ without international observers, say European politicians

A group of European politicians have travelled to Madrid to follow the Catalan independence trial and insisted that international observers should have been allowed in the courtroom during the hearings.

"It’s difficult to give a comprehensive view of what’s going on when you’re only here for a couple of hours,” said Magni Arge, a member of the Danish parliament from the Faroe Islands.

Arge and other MPs in national parliaments, as well as members of the European Parliament, were allowed to enter the courtroom during witnesses’ testimonies on Thursday morning.

“It looks very civilized in the outside, but how civilized is it in the inside and over the long-run? That’s a completely different matter,” said Arge in an interview with Catalan News.

The delegation includes members of the EU-Catalonia Dialogue Platform, encompassing MEPs from different parliamentary groups and countries.

Meanwhile Belgian MEP Mark Demesmaeker criticized the trial outside the Spanish Supreme Court. Speaking on day 9 of the trial, he called on European leaders to take action on what he described as “a political trial”.

"It's been a very hard and difficult morning to see two of my former colleagues in the European parliament standing trial here. This is a political trial and I shouldn't be here because this whole trial should not be taking place," Demesmaeker said.

“We've said it already repeatedly but it's not too late for them to realize what is going on here,” he continued.

“It's not too late for them to open their eyes because sooner or later, by ignoring this, by turning a blind eye, they will realize they're on the wrong side of history, and it's better to be on the right side of history.”