King Felipe, Puigdemont, and Rajoy among proposed witnesses for independence trial

King Felipe, along with the Catalan and Spanish presidents at the time of the October 1, 2017 referendum–Carles Puigdemont and Mariano Rajoy–are among the witnesses named for the upcoming trial against the independence case.

Three jailed leaders–Jordi Sànchez, Josep Rull, and Jordi Turull–requested their presence in the Supreme Court, and it is now up to the judges to accept or reject these proposals.

This is part of the statement of defense of these prosecuted leaders, all of whom are members of the pro-independence Junts per Catalunya group in the Catalan Parliament.

The presence of Rajoy in the trial is almost guaranteed. Supreme Court sources told Catalan News that they were willing to summon the former Spanish president should the defense teams propose him as a witness.

Yet, it’s not clear whether the king will attend the trial. The presence of Puigdemont is not assured either, as he’s been exiled in Belgium since 2017 to avoid being incarcerated in Spain.

Forn denies giving "political instructions" to police

Catalonia's interior minister at the time of the referendum, Joaquim Forn, also presented his statement of defense on Tuesday.

The politician, also a member of Junts per Catalunya and jailed since November 2, 2017, denies giving any "political instructions" to the police body during the independence referendum.

Borràs rejects all accusations

In her statement of defense, the former minister of public administrations, Meritxell Borràs, who spent one month in prison, rejected all charges and said that she was not responsible for electoral processes when the referendum took place.

Other statements of defense

Other officials in pre-trial prison have also issued their statement of defense, including former vice president Oriol Junqueras and former minister Raül Romeva, who state they are "pacifists and democrats." They both request their acquittal.

Another individual who will face a trial, activist Jordi Cuixart, denounces in his statement of defense the "suspension of civil, political and democratic rights" in Spain in order to "protect Spain's territorial unity."