The main witness of the accusation in the trial against Josep Lluís Trapero has described to the court the behavior of the chief operating officer of the Mossos during the 1-O: "The attitude of Major Trapero in no case was of any help," said this Monday at the National Court Diego Pérez de los Cobos, colonel of the Civil Guard and coordinator of the operation to prevent the illegal referendum.

De los Cobos has chronologically and in detail his movements since September 20, 2017 he was appointed to the task. The lieutenant prosecutor, Miguel Ángel Carballo, has barely interrupted the story. Yes he has done so to make it clear if "at some point" before October 1 "there was a change in attitude" in the initial opposition of Trapero to the figure of an Interior coordinator. "Did you ask for support?" Pérez de los Cobos has insistently denied it: "From what I was wondering about the desire for collaboration or support, I did not see him at any time in the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra".

De los Cobos has continuously stressed that he never had operational command over the Mossos, nor over the Civil Guard and the National Police. He could only coordinate. If he had, things would have gone another way: "If I had had control over the Mossos d'Esquadra, my first decision would have been to move Trapero away."

The clash between the two main figures in the operation of the Security Forces before the referendum had been immediate. The first meeting took place on September 21, one day after the superior prosecutor explained to Pérez de los Cobos that he wanted him as coordinator. The colonel proposed to inform Trapero personally of this before the meeting convened that day by the Prosecutor's Office on the 21st at the headquarters of the Public Ministry. Trapero "arrived soon" to the meeting and Pérez de los Cobos took the opportunity to take him to the office they had provided him.

This is what the witness has said: I said, 'José Luis, can you come for a moment?' We go to the office, I put in the background, I wanted to talk because we had a difficult situation that we had to solve among all. We were 10 days from the referendum. He told me: 'I have not come here to meet you, but to a meeting with the superior prosecutor' [...]. I said it would be convenient to join forces. He replies' I have no problem meeting you. You previously requested an appointment at the secretariat and set the agenda. He got up and go away".

In his statement, the colonel of the Civil Guard has also stressed that in his references to how the 1-O Trapero was going to act, he showed the same interests that the then President Carles Puigdemont had exhibited, focusing on the use of force. Trapero "only made reference to the same expression that Mr. Puigdemont made reference [...]. He made an intervention speaking that in any case Mossos d'Esquadra would act maintaining general principles of course without using force. In no case did reference to prevent the referendum. "

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  • Mossos d'Esquadra
  • Civil Guard
  • National Police
  • Josep Lluís Trapero
  • National audience

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