A witness of October 1: "I remember the sound of batons cracking skulls open very clearly"
Witnesses of October 1 in Sant Carles de la Ràpita have stated before the Supreme Court that the Guardia Civil continued to strike people once they had managed to enter the polling station
On Wednesday, the Catalan independence trial is hearing eyewitness accounts from citizens who were in polling stations on October 1 in which the National Police and Guardia Civil intervened.
After 3 witness accounts from escola Nova Llar in Sabadell, 2 people who were in the polling station installed in the Sant Carles de la Ràpita fair pavilion, where the Guardia Civil intervened.
When questioned by Marina Roig, from the defence of Jordi Cuixart, Albert Salvadó, deputy mayor of said town, said that the police agents arrived in at least two waves:
"The Guardia Civil had created a containing wall of sorts and all of us, hundreds of people, were between the Guardia Civil and the pavilion, as I told you, and after 20 or so minutes many Guardia Civil officers arrived, each and every one of them bearing batons and wearing helmests."
"At that time, in fact, the doors leading to the square of the pavilion, as soon as the Guardia Civil officers arrived, one of the two doors was entirely free, without anybody in front of it, and the other door was where all of us were bunched together. And they began to charge us very violently."
The deputy mayor of Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Albert Salvadó, in the Supreme Court on Tuesday
According to Salvadó, the riot police did not limit itself to open the way to the polling station, but also struck people who were not disturbing their access:
Roig: "Are you aware of whether or not, once the Guardia Civil had already reached the building, if some Guardia Civil officers continued to strike people?"
Salvadó: "Yes, in fact, I did not see them enter personally because we were suffering one of the charges, and I did see them leave."
Marina Roig: "Do you remember if the people there ever reacted to the officers when they were being struck?"
Albert Salvadó: "No, and there were no violent attitudes among the citizens."
You can see the intervention of the Guardia Civil in Sant Carles de la Ràpita in this video:
"Els van apallissar brutalment"
Salvadó ha afirmat que un grup d'una vintena de persones que van optar per seure a terra, van ser colpejats "brutalment" per la policia:
Marina Roig: "Un cop asseguts a terra, els agents van seguir colpejant a la gent?"
Albert Salvadó: "Els van apallissar brutalment."
"When they cringed in pain they cracked their skulls open"
Another witness from this polling station, Joan Pau Salvadó, explained that he reached the pavilion at 8, and that some 300 people entered at 9, and that he remained outdoors to vote later.
According to his narrative, shortly after 9 in the morning, Guardia civil officers "wearing berets" arrived and began to move people aside.
This witness explained that, after that, riot police came and carried out a ruthless baton charge against the people, striking them with batons to the head:
"The police, as it pushed us, struck us in the liver, and cracked the skulls of the taller ones when they cringed in pain. I remember the sound of batons cracking skulls very clearly."
"They came right at us"
Salvadó said that he was struck by a baton to the leg, which left him paralysed, and that an ambulance went to examine him later on, but there were many people with more serious injuries and he ended up going to the clinic later on.
When questioned by Mariano Bergés, the attorney of Dolors Bassa, Salvadó stated that the Guardia Civil charged directly against the people:
"They never said anything to us; they just came right at us."
In this video recorded in Sant Carles de la Ràpita, people can be seen shouting "No passareu!" [You shall not pass] at the Guardia Civil officers:
