Unprecedented and historic — that is how the Supreme Court trial of a dozen Catalan separatist leaders that ended today is being described.

The proceedings, which began in February, saw them face charges of rebellion, disobedience and misuse of public funds, all related to the independence referendum held on October 1, 2017.

The vote was declared illegal by the Spanish government, which moved to punish those involved immediately.

The high-profile trial — that has heard from more than 300 witnesses and rejected at least 50 — came to an end on Wednesday with the final statements of the defendants.

A verdict is expected in the autumn.

READ MORE: Catalan Separatists' trial: How they got here and what's next? | Euronews Answers

“The nuclear question is whether or not there has been violence that integrates the crime of rebellion,” said the spokesman for the professional association for Spanish judges Judges for Democracy (Juezas y Jueces para la Democracia) Ignacio González Vega.

He believes that “accusations are still based on the fact that (the declaration of independence on October 1) was a planned plot spread out through time with episodes of violence while the defence still argues that the declaration of independence was made without any violence.”

González Vega doesn’t recall any other trial like this one that was broadcast live on television from beginning to end.

“This is a way for citizens to supervise the jurisdictional activity of the Spanish courts and that is enough motivation to forgo an international observer,” noted González Vega.

Transparency was key for a trial that many independentists have been calling a "farce". It became a test for the public image of the Spanish judicial system, which the spokesman defended: “It responds to European standards on justice and preserves rights and guarantees.”

González Vega believes that “political pressure cannot be ignored” but that the experience and professionalism of the judges make them immune to these pressures. </s> Pro-independence activists plan to assemble giant TV screens in town squares across Catalonia so that locals can follow events taking place several hundred kilometres away, in the supreme court in Madrid on Wednesday. These preparations reflect the enormous interest in the trial of 12 Catalan leaders which is coming to a close after four months.

The defendants face accusations of crimes related to their region’s failed bid to secede in 2017 and this is widely seen as the most important, and politically charged, court case in Spain’s modern era.

The charges presented by state prosecutors against nine of the accused include rebellion and sedition. Former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras could face up to 25 years in prison, while rank-and-file independence leaders Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart could face 17-year sentences. All nine have been in preventive custody for well over a year.

The three other defendants, who face lesser charges, have been free on bail. On Wednesday, the accused will be allowed to give final statements to the court before it adjourns.

Despite the exhaustive scale of the trial, it seems to have done little to shift the respective positions of the plaintiffs and the defence.

“More than 50 sessions, 422 witnesses, five pieces of expert evidence and some extensive documentary evidence have left the two sides exactly where they were at the start of the trial,” noted El País. Nor has the trial altered the view of Spain’s political parties or public opinion on the matter, the newspaper added.

The plaintiffs – the public prosecutor, the state lawyer and the far-right Vox party – have presented this as a clear-cut case of criminality. Last week, public prosecutor Javier Zaragoza appeared to harden his stance by describing the 2017 independence drive as “a coup d’état”.

His colleague, Jaime Moreno, said: “I don’t think that from what we have heard or seen in this trial that it can be concluded that there was not violence.”

Both claims seek to justify the rebellion charge, focusing on street demonstrations in Barcelona in September of 2017 and an outlawed referendum on independence 10 days later. Whether or not violence was used in those events has been a major bone of contention throughout the case, with defence lawyers insisting that the independence movement is by nature peaceful.

Suggesting otherwise is both “scandalously untrue and dishonest”, wrote Cuixart in an opinion article published in La Vanguardia newspaper at the weekend. “Non-violent action is not violence. Not here or anywhere.”

Another key issue in the trial has been the role of the Catalan police force, and whether or not they resisted or abetted the regional government’s plans to hold the controversial referendum. One of the trial’s biggest surprises was the assertion by the former Catalan police chief, Josep Lluís Trapero, that he was ready and willing to arrest separatist politicians following a unilateral independence declaration that was approved by the regional parliament.

Several of the accused have played down the significance of that declaration. For example, Meritxell Borràs, a former Catalan minister who faces charges of misuse of public funds and disobedience, testified that it was not an effective statement of secession but “a political declaration without legal or juridical consequences”.

The defence’s case was indirectly bolstered last month when a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended that Spain immediately release Junqueras, Cuixart and Sànchez and pay them compensation. The group’s findings fed into a broader claim by the independence movement that not only is the trial unfounded, but that it is based on a political premise and that the court case reflects glaring weaknesses in Spanish democracy.

“This is a political trial that has been presented as a legal one,” says Gonzalo Boye, lawyer for the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who escaped the Spanish justice system by fleeing to Belgium.

“It says to me a lot about the lack of checks and balances that exist in the Spanish system.”

The Spanish government and judicial authorities take the opposing view.

Justice minister Dolores Delgado lauded “a trial held with all guarantees, with a level of transparency that puts us at the top of and in the vanguard of international judicial systems”.

This propaganda battle over Spain’s democratic credentials is expected to continue at least until the verdict is announced, probably in the autumn. Even then, the case is unlikely to be closed, with defendants expected to appeal to the constitutional court and then the European Court of Human Rights if they face an unfavourable verdict.

With a general election and European and local elections all taking place in the meantime, the trial has had an inevitable influence on Spain’s politics, helping to ensure that the Catalan territorial crisis has remained at the heart of political debate. The perceived injustice of the case and particularly the long spells of preventive custody for defendants have united and galvanised the independence movement, which blames the acting government of Socialist Pedro Sánchez for failing to rein in the judiciary.

“The Catalan government [and the independence movement] have spent months thinking about how to deal with this trauma and how to capitalise on the court verdict in a political way,” says Catalan writer Jordi Amat. “Without a doubt, for those affected this might be a tragedy but that tragedy could have political consequences.”

Catalan president Quim Torra has not ruled out calling a regional election once the verdict is announced in a bid to channel separatist outrage. However, a more familiar response will be seen this week when demonstrations are called across Catalonia to protest against the trial. </s> MADRID — The battle in court is coming to a close. But the political fight is just getting started.

The case against 12 Catalan leaders on charges that include violent rebellion and sedition is scheduled to conclude Wednesday, exactly four months after it began.

The defendants, nine of whom have been in preventive custody for over a year, have been on trial since February 12 for their participation in the Catalan regional government’s failed bid for independence in 2017.

Three of them — former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, the Catalan National Assembly’s Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart of the pro-independence Òmnium Cultural association — face potential jail sentences between 17 and 25 years if found guilty.

A verdict, and any resulting sentences, isn’t expected until the fall, after the court has reviewed the evidence provided by prosecutors, defendants and hundreds of witnesses. But the process has already deepened the fraught fault lines between Catalonia and Spanish authorities in Madrid.

Anger over the trial, accusations of bias and the detention of the high-profile defendants have given new life to Catalonia’s nationalists, whose spirits were sagging after their failed attempt to break away. And nationally, the issue continues to burn; it contributed to the fall of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government earlier this year.

The Supreme Court’s president has described the trial as “the most important that we have had in the democratic era.”

As the judicial process winds down and both sides await the verdict, the struggle to control the narrative and determine what happens next is already well under way.

Catalonia’s separatists may be outraged over a judicial process they have characterized as political persecution. But it comes at a good time for their cause.

Since their failed attempt to secede, the region’s separatists have focused their messaging on the judiciary's decision to keep nine of the 12 defendants behind bars.

Supporters have held a series of mass demonstrations and have hung yellow ribbons — symbolizing solidarity with the prisoners — in public spaces across the region. On several occasions, these displays have prompted clashes between Catalan nationalists and Spanish unionists, who oppose the region’s push to break away from Madrid.

“The biggest mobilizing factor for the independence cause over the last year or so has been the jailing of the defendants in the Supreme Court trial,” said Jordi Amat, a Catalan writer and commentator.

At a time when morale might otherwise have flagged, “the issue of the prisoners” has become a rallying cry.

Fury over the issue has benefited Catalonia’s inexperienced leader, Quim Torra, as he struggles to keep control of the independence movement.

Torra, who has said he is preparing for the trial’s verdict by consulting colleagues and grassroots independence organizations on how to respond to it, has suggested there will be a strong popular backlash if any of the defendants are found guilty.

“When we see the sentences, they might turn out to be another enormous mistake by the powers in Spain,” Catalan Foreign Minister Alfred Bosch told POLITICO.

“Obviously we won’t just sit there. We’ll have to react — we believe we are entitled to react in a civic, peaceful way.”

The trial’s outcome will also affect the institutional relationship between Catalonia and Madrid.

Since taking office last year, Sánchez has attempted to engage with the Catalan government, restoring a bilateral working group and holding regular meetings with Torra.

However, the prime minister's efforts to find common ground with Catalan lawmakers, offering to meet a long-held demand of the secessionists to appoint a facilitator in talks between pro-independence and pro-unity political parties, failed, triggering April's general election.

Having won that election, Sánchez is now attempting to form a new government. Crucially, he may be able to do so without the support of pro-independence parties, which would mean they no longer hold the political leverage they enjoyed during his first year in government.

Should that come to pass, some observers expect that Torra will look for other ways of exerting pressure on Madrid. One of them would be to respond to any guilty verdicts by calling a regional election to capitalize on public outrage over the trial and broaden the secessionist parties’ narrow majority in the Catalan parliament.

Complicating that plan, however, is the competition between the two leading Catalan nationalist forces. Holding another election would put Torra’s Junts per Catalunya at risk of losing support to its most dangerous rival, the similarly separatist Catalan Republican Left.

“We’ve got to where we are because neither of these two parties has wanted to be seen to be betraying its electoral support base,” said Oriol Bartomeus, a political scientist at Barcelona’s Autonomous University.

The two parties, he said, will be vying to prove “who is more committed to independence, who is willing to take more risks, who disobeys more.”

Heavy sentences for the defendants would add pressure on the two parties, who “wouldn’t be able to justify [reaching agreements with the Spanish government] to their supporters,” La Vanguardia columnist Lola García noted.

Benefits for the right

The resulting escalation would continue to force the Catalan issue up the national agenda, drawing attention from Sánchez’s agenda, which includes proposed reforms in areas such as euthanasia, workers’ rights and gender equality, as well as efforts to cement his status as a prominent and influential European leader.

That would benefit Spain’s fragmented and stridently unionist right. The center-right Popular Party, the liberal Ciudadanos and the far-right Vox party have all used the Catalan issue to attack Sánchez, with varying degrees of success.

The perceived threat to Spanish unity could, for example, help the Popular Party, which lost over half its congressional seats in the general election.

Sánchez’s government is already bracing itself for the likelihood that the trial’s legal fallout will drag on well beyond the fall, with appeals that could go as far as the European Court of Human Rights.

In addition to its potential to derail Sánchez’s agenda, the government also worries a protracted fight over Catalonia would damage Spain’s image internationally.

“For me this is much more than a mere battle of images,” said Irene Lozano, who heads up the Spanish government’s international image department, España Global. “For me it’s one of the biggest battles against disinformation in the world.”

The trial has already caught international attention, with the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calling for several of the defendants to be freed and paid compensation. The plight of Catalan politicians also made a splash in Brussels last month, after elected members of the European Parliament from Catalonia who have escaped the Spanish justice system by living abroad were denied entry to the institution because Madrid has not yet filled out the paperwork that would have allowed them to enter.

The case “has helped the international community to understand what is happening and that this is not just a bunch of egotistical people who want to separate because they are wealthier [than other regions],” said Bosch, the region’s foreign minister.

The Spanish government questioned the timing of the U.N. findings, which came toward the end of the trial, and alleged that some members of the working group had a conflict of interest. The report was nevertheless a blow to Madrid, which has struggled to counter the independence movement’s slick PR machine.

An editorial on the progressive news site CTXT warned that although the end of the legal process is in sight, “it is doubtful that it will resolve the social conflict, improve co-existence or manage to cover up the fact that nobody has yet accepted political responsibility [for this crisis] on one side or the other.” </s> A four-month trial has ended for 12 Catalan separatists over their bid for independence from Spain but a verdict is not expected for months. </s> Spain's public prosecutor on Friday called for charges against jailed Catalan political leaders involved in a push for independence for the north eastern region to include rebellion, disobedience and misappropriation of funds.

MADRID: Spain's public prosecutor on Friday sought up to 25 years in jail for nine leaders of Catalonia's independence movement, filing charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds over an illegal secession bid they spearheaded last year.

But the State Attorney - a separate government-appointed body also prosecuting in the case - said rebellion charges should be dropped in favour of the lesser offence of sedition and that it would seek maximum sentences of 12 years.

The conservative government of Mariano Rajoy imposed direct rule on the wealthy northeastern region in October 2017 after it declared its independence on the basis of a referendum that Spanish courts ruled was unconstitutional.

Rajoy's administration was ousted in a no-confidence vote in June and replaced by a Socialist government under Pedro Sanchez.

While refusing to countenance any move towards Catalan independence, Sanchez has adopted a more conciliatory approach towards the region than his predecessor.

With the Socialists holding only 84 of 350 parliamentary seats, he is also relying on the support of Catalan lawmakers to get his 2019 budget passed through the house.

The nine Catalan politicians were jailed without bail for their role in last year's secession drive - which laid bare deep divisions between the region's pro- and anti-Spain camps - and remain in custody pending a Supreme Court trial.

The prosecutor sought 25 years in jail for Oriol Junqueras, the leader of pro-Catalan-independence party ERC, it said in a statement.

It recommended sentences of up to 17 years on the same charges for the other eight jailed Catalan politicians, and is seeking lesser charges for nine others accused of involvement in the campaign who are not in custody.

There was no immediate comment from the Catalan regional government. Its head Quim Torra will address the media on Friday afternoon.

The leaders' defence team must present its case in the next few weeks and the trial is expected to begin in January.

The prosecutor is also seeking up to 11 years in prison for four others, including the head of the Catalan police at the time of the independence declaration, in a separate High Court case. </s> MADRID: Two jailed Catalan separatist leaders awaiting trial in a Spanish jail over their role in last year’s failed independence bid began a hunger strike on Saturday, their lawyer said.

Jordi Sanchez, the former head of the influential grassroots ANC independence movement, and Jordi Turull, a former minister in the Catalan regional government, are taking this step to “raise awareness” of their unfair treatment by Spain’s justice system, lawyer Jordi Pina told a news conference in Barcelona.

“I did not recommend this action, it is a decision of my clients and they have my full support,” he added.

In a statement read by Pina, the two men accused Spain’s Constitutional Court of blocking their appeals against their imprisonment from reaching the European Court of Human Rights. Pina said he did not know if the five other Catalan separatist leaders jailed in the Lledoners penitentiary located some 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Barcelona would later join the hunger strike.

Spain’s Supreme Court in October ordered a total of 18 former Catalan separatist leaders to stand trial over last year’s declaration of independence.

Prosecutors are seeking jail terms of up to 25 years on charges of rebellion or misuse of public funds over the failed secession bid. The sensitive trial is expected to start in early 2019 and will focus on the attempt by Catalan leaders to break away from Spain in October 2017 by staging a referendum despite a court ban and subsequently proclaiming independence.

Nine of the separatists remain in pre-trial detention, including the seven at the Lledoners prison who have been in jail for the last eight to 13 months without trial.

The announcement of the hunger strike comes a day after the first photo of the seven jailed Catalan leaders at the Lledoners prison was released by grassroots pro-independence organisation Omnium Cultural.

The picture — which was splashed on the cover of Catalan newspapers on Saturday — shows the seven men smiling and wearing casual clothes in one of the courtyards of the prison.

Omnium Cultural said it released the picture to send a message of “unity” ahead of the start of their trial.

In a statement, Catalan regional president Quim Torra expressed his “solidarity” with the two prisoners who began a hunger strike.

“This dramatic and drastic measure is being taken because of what we find to be the complete violation of citizens’ rights, civil and political rights, and of respect for the legal process. It’s my personal view that penal law is being used for vengeance,” he added. </s> MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s public prosecutor on Friday sought jail terms of up to 25 years for nine leaders of Catalonia’s independence movement, filing charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds over a failed secession bid that they spearheaded last year.

But the State Attorney - a separate government-appointed body also prosecuting in the case - said rebellion charges should be dropped in favor of the lesser offence of sedition and that it would seek maximum sentences of 12 years.

Madrid imposed direct rule on the wealthy northeastern region in October 2017 after it declared its independence on the basis of a referendum that Spanish courts ruled was unconstitutional.

The nine politicians were jailed without bail for their role in that campaign and remain in custody pending trail.

The prosecutor is also seeking lesser charges for another nine others accused of involvement in the campaign who have not been jailed ahead of the trial.

The prosecutor sought 25 years in jail for Oriol Junqueras, the leader of pro-Catalan-independence party ERC, it said in a statement.

It recommended sentences of up to 17 years on the same charges for the other eight Catalan politicians.

The leaders’ defense team must present its case in the next few weeks and the trial is expected to begin in January.

There was no immediate comment from the Catalan regional government. Its head Quim Torra will address the media on Friday afternoon. </s> MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s public prosecutor on Friday sought jail terms of up to 25 years on rebellion charges for nine leaders of Catalonia’s independence movement over an illegal secession bid they spearheaded last year.

Dismissed Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras arrives to Spain's High Court after being summoned to testify on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds for defying the central government by holding a referendum on secession and proclaiming independence, in Madrid, Spain, November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Javier Barbancho

The recommendation drew an angry response from the region’s leader, who also dismissed moves by the State Attorney - a separate, government-appointed body prosecuting in the case - to push for the lesser charge of sedition.

Madrid imposed direct rule on the wealthy northeastern region in October 2017 after it declared its independence on the basis of a referendum that Spanish courts ruled was unconstitutional.

The nine Catalan politicians were jailed without bail for their role in that secession drive, which laid bare deep divisions between the region’s pro- and anti-Spain camps, and remain in custody pending their Supreme Court trial.

The prosecutor, which also filed a charge of misuse of public funds against the nine, sought the longest term of 25 years for Oriol Junqueras, the leader of pro-Catalan-independence party ERC.

The State Attorney, which is part of the justice ministry, said it was seeking maximum sentences of 12 years.

Reiterating calls for all charges to be dropped, Catalonia’s pro-secession government head Quim Torra said the pursuit of the campaigners through the courts showed “absolute disdain for imprisoned democrats”.

“Today, the government has missed a golden opportunity to take this conflict out of the courts and return it to a political matter,” he said.

The prosecutor has precedence in the trial, expected to begin in January.

The Attorney’s bid for the lesser charge of sedition coincides with efforts by the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez to reduce tensions between Madrid and Barcelona. Justice Minister Dolores Delgado said it was acting purely on judicial criteria.

CONCILIATORY APPROACH

While refusing to countenance any move toward Catalan independence, Sanchez has adopted a more conciliatory approach toward the region than his predecessor Mariano Rajoy.

With the Socialists holding only 84 of 350 parliamentary seats, he is also relying on the support of Catalan lawmakers to get his 2019 budget passed through the house.

The ERC’s Junqueras was deputy to the then Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont during the vote for independence last year. Puigdemont fled the country after Madrid took control of the regional government - which it handed back in December - and has been in self-imposed exile since.

The prosecutor recommended sentences of up to 17 years on rebellion and misuse of funds charges for the other eight jailed Catalan politicians, and is seeking lesser charges for nine others accused of involvement in the campaign who are not in custody.

The leaders’ defense team must present its case in the next few weeks and the trial is expected to begin in January.

The prosecutor is also seeking up to 11 years in prison for four others, including the head of the Catalan police at the time of the independence declaration, in a separate High Court case. </s> There is no formal deadline for the Supreme Court’s seven judges to render a verdict, but a ruling is expected before November. By then the defendants will have spent two years in prison, after being denied bail in 2017.

The case has also been closely followed in other parts of Spain, like the Basque region, which has its own separatist history. “It’s clear to us that this has been a show trial, to frighten anybody else who wants to challenge the state,” said Idoia Elorza, a Basque Nationalist Party official who traveled to Madrid this week with some colleagues to follow the trial’s closing days.

The trial’s most divisive issue has been whether the independence drive involved violence — and whether the leaders of the movement could be held personally accountable. On Wednesday, Jordi Turull, a former member of the Catalan government, said it was “an insult to Catalan society” to suggest that a few leaders had manipulated more than 2 million voters into taking part in the October 2017 referendum. “Catalans are not sheep,” he told the courtroom.

Other defendants also forecast that the independence movement would keep growing — with or without their help — and ultimately force the Spanish government to allow an independence referendum in Catalonia.

“The ballot box can never be a threat to democracy,” said Jordi Sànchez, a defendant who faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted. “In Catalonia, there will be ballot boxes and votes and we will have them thanks to an agreement with the Spanish government, like in Scotland or Quebec.”

If convicted, the defendants could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, or they could be pardoned by Mr. Sánchez. However, Spain’s prime minister is under intense pressure not to make further concessions to separatist politicians, particularly following his unsuccessful effort to reopen a political dialogue with them last year. The talks went nowhere, and instead the separatists helped vote down Mr. Sánchez’s budget in February, forcing him into a snap election.

The defendants’ closing statements, which referred to philosophical writings from Socrates to Hannah Arendt, also warned the judges directly that their ruling could significantly impact Spain’s political future. “You have the responsibility of not worsening a political situation,” Jordi Sànchez told the judges. “I would not like to be in your shoes now.”
The trial of the leaders involved in the Catalan declaration of independence ends and is remitted to decision. A verdict is not expected until after August.