Albert Batlle states in the Catalan independence trial that he resigned because he was "uneasy" with the CUP

Albert Batlle, who acted as director-general of the Mossos d'Esquadra between June 2014 and July 2017, attributed his resignation to several factors, but he highlighted one of them: he did not feel "at ease" with the CUP.

Batlle, who took the stand on Wednesday as a witness in the Catalan independence trial in the Supreme Court, said there was "an element of personal unease with regard to how things were evolving":

"I had noticed certain unease from a certain sector of the parties that supported the government of the Generalitat in Parliament at a personal level."

"At the time, as you know, the government of the Generalitat was supported by the CUP, which had repeatedly asked for my resignation on several occasions, and with which I had had serious confrontations, even in parliament. That is why I say there was a situation of unease." 

Defence counsels Xavier Melero and Andreu Van den Eynde, in the Supreme Court during Albert Batlle's statement on Wednesday

"Trapero would never have accepted any interference from political power"

Batlle highlighted that it was he who, in February 2016, proposed Josep Lluís Trapero to the then-minister of the Interior, Jordi Jané, to hold the position of Major of the Mossos, which was vacant.

When questioned by Xavier Melero, the defence counsel of Jané's substitute, Joaquim Forn, Batlle firmly defended Trapero's professionalism:
 

Batlle: "Major Trapero jealously guarded his competences when he acted as judiciary police. He would never have accepted any interference from political power."

Melero: "That is what I wanted to ask you. In the definition you said you were looking for a specific profile to hold the position of Major: what was unique about mister Trapero? His political loyalty, or was it of a technical nature?"

Batlle: "The assessment was obviously purely technical. And not just for mister Trapero, for anyone who could have held this position. A position was not created for mister Trapero, a position was created because it was deemed that the structure of a prefecture at the head of 17,000 police officers required something unique."

Related interactive resource: The keys of the Catalan independence trial