An October 1 voter from La Pobla de Mafumet: "Fortunately, we did not have any visitors"
Marga Borràs explained that they applauded a young man who went to vote with a Spanish flag
Marga Borràs, a resident of la Pobla de Mafumet, located in the Tarragonès region, explained how October 1 was experienced in the polling stations in which neither the Guardia Civil nor the Policía Nacional intervened, as in the immense majority of cases, on Wednesday in the Supreme Court.
Borràs, who is an ERC candidate for a position as town councilperson, explained that she went there on Saturday afternoon to participate in the activities that had been organised in the Mare de Déu del Lladó school in that town.
"It took place with democratic normality"
As she explained to defence counsel Ana Bernaola, she stayed there all night and, on the next morning, the townspeople gathered there to vote without any noteworthy incidents taking place:
Bernaola: "How was the rest of the day?"
Borràs: "It went on with democratic normality, like Sunday, April 28. People were voting, leaving, entering... Fortunately we did not have any visitors. Therefore, everything happened normally."
Bernaola: "When you talk about 'visitors', are you referring to the Policía Nacional and the Guardia Civil?"
Borràs: "That is correct."
Defence counsel Anna Bernaola, between Àlex Solà and Jordi Pina, on Wednesday at the Supreme Court
They applauded a young man with the Spanish flag
The witness explained that, throughout the day, a pair of Mossos d'Esquadra officers were near the school and attempted to enter on several occasions, but the people gathered in front of the door prevented them from doing so passively.
She also explained that a young man dressed with a Spanish flag went to vote:
Bernaola: "Do you know if any dissenters voted on 1-O?"
Borràs: "Yes. We had one young man who went to vote with a Spanish flag hanging all the way to the ground, and we applauded him, of course! He entered, he voted, he withdrew and he left."
They do not know how the ballot boxes arrived
Nearly all witnesses on Wednesday morning, requested by the defence counsels of Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Turull, participated in the 1-O referendum in polling stations in places such as Vic, Lliçà de Vall, Alforja or Barcelona where neither the Guardia Civil nor the Policía Nacional intervened.
They all stated that the couples of Mossos d'Esquadra officers who went to the polling stations were unable to enter there due to the concentration of people they met with every time they attempted to do so.
They also agreed when answering on whether they were aware of how the ballot boxes and the rest of voting material arrived: they did not see it and do not know.
Vox asked nearly all witnesses if they had to carry out any administrative procedures to be able to vote on 1-O and they all replied in the negative. Some of them said that they knew there was a universal census that allowed them to vote at any polling station.
A witness asks to give his testimony in Catalan but is not allowed to
One of the witnesses on Wednesday, Joan Torres, wanted to give his statement in Catalan, but the president of the court, Manuel Marchena, did not allow him to.
Torres, who was summoned because he voted in the October 1 referendum in Anglesola, in the Pla d'Urgell region, said so at the beginning of his statement.
Marchena answered that "everything is regulated" in the trial and that the only language permitted is Spanish:
Joan Torres: "I had requested to be able to give testimony in Catalan, based on..."
Marchena: "Indeed, there is a writ, but be aware that, at this moment, everything in these proceedings is regulated, down to the very place you are sitting. And since everything is regulated, one of the things that is regulated is the language used in these proceedings. And, although we have the utmost respect towards the Catalan language, the law requires us to hold these
proceedings in Spanish. In consequence, you have the duty to answer in Spanish. Please answer the questions."
Torres therefore replied to the answers from the defence counsels and the parties to the prosecution in Spanish.
"Everything that is happening here is due to legal imperatives"
When the turn arrived for Vox to ask questions, the witness pointed out that he would answer due to legal imperative, as other witnesses have done on previous days, but Marchena told him that all of his statements were so:
Torres: "I would like to state for the record that I am answering the popular prosecution due to legal imperative."
Marchena: "Do notice that everything that is happening here is due to legal imperatives. You have answered as a witness because it is your duty to give testimony. You have answered the questions from the public prosecution because it is your duty to give testimony to the State Attorney General, we are all here due to legal imperatives. But if you wish to point it out, you are quite right to do so. Please answer the popular prosecution."
Other witnesses, such as Isabel Castell, from la Sènia, in Montsià, made the same remark as Torres, to which Marchena replied in the above terms.
