Trapero begins his statement as a defendant by separating from the convicted Jordi Sànchez

• Courts: The National Court judges Trapero: or key piece in the sedition or command of the Mossos that asked to stop the 1-O
• Judgment: The Supreme Court sentenced Junqueras to 13 years for sedition with embezzlement and between nine and 12 to the rest imprisoned for the 'procés'

The eldest of the Mossos during the 1-OJosep Lluís Trapero has begun his declaration as a defendant in the National Court separating himself from the already convicted Jordi Sànchez. When the prosecutor has asked him about his relationship with Sànchez prior to the incidents surrounding the Ministry of Economy , he explained that he had only treated him twice, and in his previous stage to the president of the ANC. In that phase of today condemned by sedition, he no longer dealt with it: "I knew it was one of the singing voices of that theme of independence, of voting, because it goes on TV every day."

The prosecutor has begun his interrogation trying to clarify the role of Trapero in the siege suffered by the judicial delegation that carried out searches in the Ministry of Economy on September 20, 2017, a few days after the 1-O referendum. Trapero has acknowledged that the then Interior Councilor Joaquim Forn , also convicted, told him that Sanchez would contact him to help manage the situation. Trapero has recognized a dozen conversations with the president of the ANC, but has denied that he granted "any title of anything" to act as a mediator. It was simply applied, he said, the Mossos protocol of trying to solve situations with someone with "ascendant" on the protesters.

Apart from his relationship with Sànchez, Trapero has insisted in his answers that the Mossos had no prior notice of the Civil Guard operation against those involved in the process . That meant they had trouble improvising the sending of media to the dozens of conflict points that were generated with the arrests and searches.

Before the interrogations began, the Prosecutor's Office explained that it is "aware" that the Supreme Court did not convict of a crime of rebellion, but has ruled out withdrawing that legal qualification and has postponed the decision at the end of the oral hearing. "The Office of the Prosecutor of the National Court is aware of the Supreme Court ruling and logically, at the appropriate time, the appropriateness of calibrating the corresponding legal qualification will be considered. No modification will be made at this time," explained the lieutenant of the Audience, Miguel Ángel Carballo. The law leaves the final qualification of the facts prosecuted by the end of the oral hearing. Once the testimony, expert and documentary evidence is concluded when the Public Prosecutor's Office indicates which crime is attributed to the accused. Predictably it will be the sedition, the same for which the Supreme condemned.

The hearing began on Monday the trial against Trapero and three other defendants: the mayor of the Mossos Teresa Laplana, the former number two of the Interior Ministry César Puig and the former director of the Mossos Pere Soler. The accusation with which the prosecution comes to trial calls for 11 years in jail for rebellion for Trapero, Puig and Soler. Laplana is asked four years for sedition, for the incidents surrounding the Ministry of Economy one month before the vote.

The decision of the High Court does not clearly reveal an acquittal or conviction of the accused. It contains passages that compromise him, such as the one that speaks of the "clearly insufficient deployment" of the Mossos and the search for an "apparent fulfillment" of the order to prevent voting. "The alibi of the insufficiency of Mossos in each and every center to fulfill the mandate of the magistrate of the Superior Court of Justice was cynical notoriety," says the Supreme.

But there are also other sections that favor them, particularly Trapero. They are the ones that relate actions of the accused that underpinned the convictions of politicians. These are the meetings in which Trapero explicitly told Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras that he would comply with court orders, asked them to recall the referendum and warned them that there would be clashes.

The essential thesis of Trapero's defense, exercised by lawyer Olga Tubau, is that: that he always complied with the orders of judges and prosecutors. And that, although he disagreed with the coordination imposed by Interior, he complied with it. If the operation could not stop the vote, it was, among other reasons, because of the misgivings of the Interior and because the participation overflowed the available means.

He himself exposed it in his statement as a witness in the Supreme. He stressed that the judge told them that they should act “patiently, containment and guaranteeing social peace at all times,” which resulted in the Mossos not using force on any occasion. Trapero added that the agreement reached was that public order interventions in the polling stations were the task of the Police and the Civil Guard.

The thesis of the Prosecutor's Office - the only accusation in this trial - is that Trapero was never really willing to prevent the vote and designed a bite-free operative to fail. Only then was the absolute passivity of the autonomous body explained. «The defendant, with the knowledge and acquiescence of the other two defendants [Puig and Soler], as the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, deliberately designed mechanisms of action that prevented the agents from complying with the instructions given by the Prosecutor's Office and the resolutions of the Superior Court of Justice », states the statement of prosecution of the lieutenant prosecutor of the Court, Miguel Ángel Carballo, and the prosecutor Pedro Rubira, who will intervene in the trial.

The trial is expected to last two months, until March 19. Most of the time it will take the testimony phase, for which there are more than a hundred of those mentioned. The first will be the Colonel of the Civil Guard Diego Pérez de los Cobos, coordinator of the October 1 operation and Trapero's nemesis in the operation. Perez de los Cobos charged hard against the Major when he testified at the trial of procés.

The former president Artur Mas and the convicted Oriol Junqueras, Joaquim Forn and Jordi Sànchez are also cited in the last phase of the trial. It is planned that the prisoners - if by then the defenses have not renounced their summons - testify by videoconference.

The trial and sentence are in the hands of the First Section, with a heterogeneous and high-class composition. The president of the court is also the president of the Criminal Chamber of the Hearing, Concepción Espejel. The former president of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid Francisco Javier Vieira also integrates the court. Both are members of the majority and conservative Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM). The third member and rapporteur of the resolution - in charge of drafting it - is Ramón Sáez Valcárcel, a magistrate of recognized legal stature and very progressive profile.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Jordi Sanchez
• Supreme Court
• Civil Guard
• Oriol Junqueras
• ANC
• Mossos d'Esquadra
• Carles Puigdemont
• National audience
• Josep Lluís Trapero
• Referendum in Catalonia

'Procés' The trial of Josep Lluís Trapero in the National Court returns to give voice to Oriol Junqueras and others convicted of 'procés'

CourtsThe National Court judges Trapero: o key piece in the sedition or command of the Mossos who asked to stop the 1-0

'Procés'The Government dodges the Penitentiary Surveillance court with the shining permits to' the Jordis'