David Fernàndez: "If self-determination is the crime, I declare myself guilty and repeat offender"

The reporter and ex-deputy of the CUP party David Fernàndez has made a strong defense of the right to self-determination in the Catalan independence trial. Fernàndez was the second witness appearing before the Supreme Court on April 25 in the afternoon, following the line set by the previous testimony, deputy of ERC Ruben Wagesnberg, who advocated for peaceful civil disobedience.

Fernàndez proclaimed that he was aware that October 1 was an act of disobedience, adding he will continue exercising said disobedience "while self-determination is still a crime":
 

"I was aware, and I disobeyed consciously. I disobeyed 9N too, as there were prohibitions set there as well. And I was not the only one,I believe 2.3 million people did the same because, if self-determination is the crime, I declare myself guilty and repeat offender, because as long as it is still a crime I will continue doing the same thing and repeating until this right is not a crime, but a democratic right."

Fernàndez explained that on October 1 he went to the Dovella School, in the Barcelona district of El Clot, and he was called to "talk to the officers" of the Mossos d'Esquadra. He did it to warn them that they could not enter:
 

"They told me they had to withdraw the polls and I told them what the real situation was, and that people would peacefully prevent their access."

"No violence planning" from the pro-indendence spectrum

After talking about the Activism exercised by the En Peu de pau association in favor of peaceful disobedience, the accusations asked him over behaviors such as "insults, threats, blows to cars, throwing objects or cakes" to the police forces that served in Catalonia between September 20 and October 1.

Fernàndez admitted that at times there were blows or insults, but he remarked that they were "marginal" and that violence was "never" encouraged from the Catalan pro-independence side, but quite the opposite:
 

"Jaime Moreno: Do ​​you know if these behaviors took place in the concentrations between September 20 and October 1?

David Fernàndez: In general and as a whole, no. Now, in the exceptional context that took place in October 1, many things happened, that is obvious. We have seen images of different kinds. But focusing on marginal and spontaneous things ... On October 1, there was not a single strategy of violence planning in any pro-independence space calling to answer with any of the criteria you mentioned. Quite the opposite."

 

State attorney Rosa María Seoane has interrogated David Fernàndez

When state attorney Rosa María Seoane asked if passive resistance could have included the use of force, Fernàndez conveyed her to specify what she meant by "force":
 

"Seoane: Making an opposition. Exercising strength over whomever we have in front.

Fernàndez: I would not define it in terms of power, violence or authority. If you talk to me about strenght... well, there is fortitude. What we exercise is the power of assembly. You may interpret it as force. It is the people's power of assembly that prevents the kidnapping of the ballot boxes. "

The testimony spoke of the workshops that En peu de pau did throughout Catalonia, often in CDRs, to train them on "how to resist situations of tension or police repression."

These workshops, he said, were based on "the principle of self-content" and also "on the inviolability of the other", that is, to respect the physical and moral integrity of the person in front of you. "The central idea is the following: defending the rights of others is also defending our owns," he said.

He also referred to the change of the police model during his term as a deputy, following the case of Ester Quintana, who lost an eye to the impact of a rubber bullet during the general strike of 2012. "We have moved from a model of the 80's, hard and coercive, to a sensitive, flexible, guaranteeing and preventive model", he said.

 

Related interactive resource: The keys of the Catalan independence trial

 

Protest of "Peaceful Severity" on September 20

Fernàndez has defined the mobilization of September 20 before the Ministry of Economy as an act of protest "of a virtually absolute pacifist severity." He described the attitude of the people as "peaceful and outraged", while adding that the corridor that the volunteers of the Assemblea Nacional Catalana created opened up "without any kind of problem, in only two or three minutes."
 

Lawyer Benet Salellas, during the sittings on April 25
 

At noon on September 20, he left for the headquarters of the CUP party alerted to the presence of hooded men who wanted to enter the place. Fernàndez acknowledged the "deliberately and consciously peaceful and non-violent" attitude of the more than 2,000 people who concentrated on the door "for 8 hours uninterruptedly":

"There are no injuries except an initial charge on protesters at a quarter past one, a slight charge. But overall it was absolutely peaceful, festive, too, in the sense of generating a climate of distension and protest against the most arbitrary and abnormal situation that I, as a political representative, have ever experienced myself. A police force trying to enter the headquarters of a political party without any judicial order, seizing propaganda against which it has no legal mandate..."

 

It answers to Vox "by legal imperative" and denouncing their fascism

Fernàndez has responded to all the parties, including the popular accusation exerted by the extreme right party of Vox. He has done so after addressing the court to ask if his refusal to do so could invalidate his testimony.
 

David Fernández declared for a little more than half an hour before the Supreme Court

Judge Marchena warned him telling him that he was bound to answer all parties and reminded him that he could incur in penalties if he didn't. Finally, Fernàndez agreed to answer, but noting that he was donig so "by legal imperative and from a moral stand point of denouncing the cruelty and mischief of all forms of fascism.