"You, the famous guy": the Guardia Civil to the alderman with the clown nose on October 1

Sant Joan de Vilatorrada alderman Jordi Pesarrodona stated in the Supreme Court that the Guardia Civil officers who intervened in his town on October 1 recognised him and called him "famous guy".

According to his witness statement in the Catalan independence trial on Tuesday, when he saw the images of the police intervention in Sant Julià de Ramis he expected the police to come to his town.

"You, the famous guy"

Pesarrodona rose to fame when, on September 20, pictures of him wearing a clown nose next to the police officers who carried out the search in the Ministry of the Interior were disseminated in the media.

As he explained when questioned by Marina Roig, from the defence counsel of Jordi Cuixart, as soon as the officers reached escola Juncadella in his town on October 1, they recognised him:

"I saw that they had recognised me because the officer in charge of the operation addressed me and said "You, the famous guy, come over here", and he put me in the first row."

According to the explanation of the witness, he had "a very sincere conversation" with the officer through the metal fence of the school and after they opened the door, which was locked.

Struck in the testicles 4 times with a baton

Pesarrodona said he thought the Guardia Civil would leave, but then they started to kick people out, and that he was struck in the groin four times:

"I believe they were coming back to dialogue, like the first time, but I only remember that they pushed me on the - damn, this is difficult for me to say in Spanish - back, on the back, they kicked me out backwards, and I did not have time to react."

"I was dragged on the ground but, I don't know how, I was once again int he first row. And I stayed there and saw how they dragged some other people away. Suddenly they started to hit me in the area of the testicles with a baton, they gave me four big blows with a baton. I did not understand why they were hitting me like this."

"I admit the first blow was extremely painful. The other three were less painful, because I was falling down and, sometimes, being a bit chubby sometimes allows for the batons to bounce off your body fat and I ended up only getting a big bruise, but I went to denounce it because I believed the attack had been unnecessary and incredible."

The witness denied that any of the people gathered in front of the school had attacked the police agents, but rather that they simply attempted to avoid being hit by the batons.

He also said that after having spent some 20 minutes trying to kick the people out, the Guardia Civil dismantled the operation and left. Pesarrodona, who has filed a formal complaint against the Guardia Civil for these events, gave his statement next to a lawyer, but he answered all questions.
 

3 injured in Sant Joan de Vilatorrada

Another witness on Tuesday, Lluís Matamala, was also in Sant Joan de Vilatorrada on October 1, and he said that the police operation injured a minimum of 3 people, two of which were on sick leave for their injuries.

Lluís Matamala, in the Supreme Court on Tuesday

S'ha enfrontat a Marchena per l'idioma

Matamala initially clashed with the presiding magistrate of the court, Manuel Marchena, because he claimed his right to give testimony in Catalan.

His statement began in a hesitant manner: the witness sat down as soon as he entered, and Marchena asked him to rise to ask him the legally required questions.

The spat began shortly after that:

Matamala: "May I ask a question?"

Marchena: "You may not ask any questions."

Matamala: "I submitted a written request to be able to speak and answer questions in Catalan because..."

Marchena: "You are a lawyer, are you not?"

Matamala: "I am a lawyer."

Marchena: "I assume, then, that you are familiar with article 231 of the Judiciary Act. I refer to your legal knowledge on this article and to all the explanations the Court has given with regard to this article. You may not put forward an alternate interpretation of this article as you have done in your written request for one simple reason: you are a third party, and the only people here who can advocate an alternate interpretation are the parties to the prosecution and the defence. You will therefore answer in Spanish. If you do not wish to answer in Spanish, the answer is quite simple. You get up, you accept the legal consequences of your refusal to answer and we are done here."

"The disciplinary and criminal consequences"

This explanation did not convince Matamala, who continued to insist, despite the fact that Marchena had cut off his microphone.

Finally, the presiding magistrate of the court warned him of the "disciplinary and criminal consequences" he could incur:

"Look, please. If you introduce any element of debate or controversy on the decision of this Court, you will be immediately expelled and you will have to bear the disciplinary and criminal consequences that may arise from it. Please answer the questions of Ms. Roig, who requested you as a witness."

Marchena, who had seen the notes carried by the witness, ordered him to leave them on the table next to him, as he had previously done with Marina Garcés, whose statement was the most tense one in the morning.