The office of public prosecution to investigate violent acts against Catalan MPs

Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan political class and a large part of society were shocked and outraged by yesterday’s violence in front of the Catalan Parliament. Protesters tried to besiege the Parliament and impede the entrance of MPs. Those MPs trying to arrive on foot were insulted, threatened, pushed and sprayed, and many had to access the Parliament inside a police riot van or via a helicopter, such as the Catalan President and the Parliament’s President. Catalonia’s office of public prosecution has opened an investigation about those actions and has requested information from the Catalan Police. The Catalan Parliament has also decided to file a formal complaint but is still studying if it will do it on its own or will back the Prosecutor. The President of the Catalan Government Artur Mas explained that on Wednesday evening the Executive already talked to the Prosecutor’s Office about the violent incidents. Impeding MPs to attend a Parliament’s plenary is a felony under the Spanish Penal Code (Article 498). Mas stressed that "those who have committed an offence will be identified, detained, judged, and condemned". In addition, the Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Felip Puig explained that police detained seven people and has already identified ten more people, and more were to come. For the moment, the Catalan Police will charge them with the misdemeanour of resistance and damages, but they are likely to face additional charges.

The images of protesters attacking Catalan MPs and blocking the Parliament will be difficult to erase from the collective memory. The events have been considered by a vast majority an attack against democracy and against the Parliament, an institution that dates back to the Middle Ages (it is one of the oldest in Europe) but that could not have a continuity throughout history because of authoritarian regimes. All the Catalan political parties have condemned yesterday’s actions, a condemnation also backed today unanimously by the press.

Spokespeople from the “indignats” movement, the protesters that were camping in Spanish squares for the last month, have also condemned the violent incidents. They stressed that those committing crimes do not represent the movement and that they only support peaceful protests. Despite those clarifications, there is a general acknowledgement that the protest movement has lost credibility and supporters.

The opposition parties criticise the small number of police deployed

Most of the opposition parties questioned the size of the police deployment, which was considered insufficient. Between 550 and 600 policemen, most of them riot police, were deployed to control protesters and protect the Parliament of Catalonia. They were deployed around the Ciutadella Park, where the Parliament is located. Puig recognised that they were not expecting such levels of violence and that the police had to adapt its deployment as the situation was evolving. He has also explained that the Catalan Police will study further methods and tactics to face protesters “that are becoming more violent and professional” and that “act as an urban guerrilla” movement. Police may use water canons in the future he recognised.