Pablo Gabilondo
05/03/2019 El Confidencial
ENGLISH
The platform is called International Trial Watch, but behind it there are six Catalan associations that issue a weekly report in which they denounce aspects of the procedure
The Supreme Court rejected at the beginning of February to reserve seats in the room for foreign jurists in the trial of 'procés'. Despite this, six Catalan associations have gone ahead with the idea and since the first day have introduced international and national 'observers' in the room, an objective that they have pursued with the launch of a new organization that they have baptized with an Anglo-Saxon name: International Trial Watch. Its promoters have already published three weekly reports in which they criticize different aspects of the procedure in both French and English, which is why El Confidencial wanted to interview one of its promoters, lawyer Xavier Muñoz:
QUESTION. If the trial is broadcasted live entirely and access to the room is free, why do you need observers?
ANSWER. The figure of the international observer is a figure to be used in trials of legal transcendence. This happened for example in the trial against Pablo Ibar in Florida, when he faced the death penalty. The Parliament or the Basque Government then sent a delegation of observers, of jurists, so that they could observe and draw their own conclusions. From my own experience, it is one thing to follow the procedure via television and quite another to be inside and perceive sensations, gestures...
Q. Being six Catalan associations, why did they choose a name in English for their organization?
A. Because our goal is to bring people of reference, human rights defenders and jurists of a certain international level, as many as we could, then the communication channel should be in English.
The foreign jurists invited by the association gathered headlines from the first day. Although the Supreme Court had refused to keep a spot for the 'observers', when the moment of truth arrived, several lawyers linked to International Trial Watch found a way to access the room: they were identified in the police control as lawyers and they were given an accreditation of this type, which gave them preference over the general public and the possibility of skipping the corresponding queue to enter, explain judicial sources. The surprise came when they wanted to enter the high court and staff of the Supreme Court warned that several men dressed in lawyers’ robes wanted to occupy seats for the general public, a situation not resolved until the lawyers took off such clothings.
"I'm not at all in agreement with that information", Muñoz defends when asked about it. "I know there was a bit of trouble, but I do not know that anyone from our platform came under those circumstances". One of our observers, a Belgian gentleman in such a robe, came in and they took it away, but I do not know that anyone came inside wearing those clothes", he says.
Regarding how they select these international jurists, Muñoz points out that "through their international ‘background'” they connect with "persons of reference" who are willing to attend the trial."There are organizations that are dedicated to human rights issues at the international level, in my case I am dedicated to the legal profession and I have contacts as member of the European Democratic Lawyers Association. It is through these contacts and the references gathered that we study the profiles", he says. When the selected jurist accepts, International Trial Watch is then responsible for paying for his travel and accommodation, expenses that, they claim, cover through "donations". Asked how much they have spent in these first three weeks, Muñoz says that they prefer not to give the information at the moment: "At the end of everything a report will be made".
Criticism of the trial
The platform is made up of six Catalan associations: Associació Catalana per la Defensa dels Drets Humans, Collectiu Praga, Institut de Drets Humans de Catalunya, Irídia, Novact and the Observatori del Sistema Penal y els Drets Humans of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. In their weekly reports, however, these organizations do not appear, but the International Trial Watch logo on the phrase 'Catalan Referendum Case'.
The releases also start with the 'observers' who have attended the trial that week. "In every session we have had until now, at least one observer has entered each of the sessions, while the representatives of International Watch only function as accompaniment, inform them about the context, act as spokesperson if necessary ... But I cannot say with a 100% of accuracy if the person who has entered in each session was of Spanish or foreign origin", he explains.
Once the jurists who support the weekly report are presented, the texts then provide a series of assessments regarding the performance of the court. The first week, the platform criticized that "the accusations do not take into account that the actions of the defendants may be covered by fundamental rights" and that "they introduce new facts in their questions". The second, they denounced the "inaccuracies" and "tricky questions" of the Prosecutor, "the alteration of the order in the practice of the evidence", the "especially worrying" issues about freedom of assembly ... And the third, they applauded the "enabling of one more day for the sessions" while charging against the "treatment of freedom of expression and the right of assembly and demonstration in interrogations" or that there is no "calendar of trial sessions".
For the time being, the formula for the weekly reports has managed to capture the attention of the media. "We send our notes and calls to media throughout the Spanish State; another thing is the media paying attention to us. Which one takes our case or not, this does not depend on us. We give our opinions to whoever might be interested; if not, then there is no problem", explains Muñoz. "Evidently, the case is being followed more often in Catalonia, then the Catalan media not only pay more attention to our platform but also to the trial".
In this way, headlines such as "International observers criticize the Prosecutors’ 'criminalization' of the right to demonstrate" or "International observers warn of the 'political burden' of the trial of 1-O" have managed to find a niche in the Catalan press.
SPANISH
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