The secretary of court 13 of Barcelona in the Supreme Court in 10 sentences

The declaration of the secretary of court number 13 of Barcelona ​​Montserrat del Toro was highly anticipated, as her testimony is one of the main charges against the leaders of ANC and Òmnium, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, for the events that took place in September 20 .

Del Toro declared without being seen, as the television circuit transmitting the trial didn't show her image. She offered a subjective storyline on what she experienced that day, stating both that she was afraid and that days later her health "suffered the consequences".

"A very unpleasant incident with a Guardia Civil agent"

Del Toro explained that she was at the main entrance of the Conselleria (ministry) between 8 and 9 in the morning on the 20-S, and that she witnessed a "very unpleasant incident" on the street:

"Behind the glass, a young person approached the Guardia Civil agent who was safeguarding the access door and I ... I guess it was a flag,… he put a flag very close to his face, he shouted something and I got the feeling he spit on the agent, but ... then I stopped seeing ... "

Six sandwiches at 4:30 p.m.

According to what she said, when it was time to have lunch, they told her they could not leave the building:

"The Guardia Civil agent told me that it was impossible to order food or go out to buy anything. We could not leave, and much less come back with food. "

She asked for a helicopter to leave

Del Toro has stated that she had previously asked for a helicopter to pick her up to leave the building, but she understood that it was not possible:

"Well, it's true that that roof was difficult to walk… however, it was night and I could verify that my initial request for a helicopter would not have been plausible, because it was full of antennas."

The court secretary said she had not talked about the helicopter affair before because the Guardia Civil officers "laughed" when she asked for it that day.
 

"Crushed against the glass"

At night, she went back down to the entrance of the building, and got frightened by what she saw through the glass of the doors:

"I see ... I left when I saw the exit, I went to the right and then I heard what seemed to be a tremendous noise, like an avalanche, and I saw that there were people who crushed against the glass. You know, when you get crushed with the glass outside, uh, the glass outside,… the I got scared."

"An authentic ghost"  

The court secretary said that for most of that day she felt like a "ghost":

"From the beginning of the morning until the last moment of the afternoon ... I was a real ghost. Nobody tried to contact me, neither ask me nor inform me of anything. When I say nobody, I mean nobody."

"... until the first subway entrance ..."

According to what she stated, the Mossos (Catalan police) offered to accompany her through the crowd to the subway, and she did not accept it:

Montserrat del Toro: "The first offer they made me was for me to go out through the main door, guarded by two security agents from the Mossos. Agents with their bulletproof vest, but normal agents, in the end of the day. They would accompany until we left the crowd behind us, until they considered that there were no more people. From there, I was supposed to go to the first subway station and keep going the way I could. Javier Zaragoza: "Why did you refuse this offer?" Montserrat del Toro: "It was inadmissible."

The second offer

"I had a second offer with similar premises. A corridor of civilians, not police officers, could be shaped. Civilians on both sides. And I could go out, I don't know how far, but that was supposed to facilitate my access, I don't know wether it was with police custody or without it. Anyhow, for the same reasons that I had rejected the first offer, I rejected this second one."

Departure through the Coliseum theater

Finally, the solution was to go out via the Coliseum theater through a roof of the building:

"I went out on the roof. I had to jump a low wall one meter high. I could not do it alone, so they helped me. The jump to the other roof was much higher. "

She was afraid

Regarding the fear felt on that day, she stated that it was not only fear for her integrity as a person, but also for the work done not to be lost:

"I was afraid and, in addition, my professional obligation was that the 17-hour work carried out was not lost and I could leave with the record"

Health "broken"

Del Toro assured that a few days after September 20 her health "suffered the consequences":

"The truth is that I stayed 3 or 4 days in my job the best I could, and the following Monday my health suffered the consequences. I paid for the stress I felt all those previous days."

Related interactive resource: The keys of the Catalan independence trial