The Barcelona Provincial Court acquits 12 of the 13 CDR members who chained themselves to the steps of Barcelona’s Palau de Justícia, the headquarters of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia

The trial, held on 5 and 6 February, concluded with the acquittal of the activists who held a protest in February 2018 against the application of Article 155 and to demand the release of the 1 October political prisoners. The Barcelona Court argues that the accusation is ‘absolutely disproportionate’ because there were no violent acts justifying a criminal offence, as the Mossos d’Esquadra had confirmed. The Prosecutor’s Office, which was calling for two and a half years in prison for an alleged crime of public disturbance for 11 of the defendants and a year in prison for the other two for disobedience and aggravated resistance to authority, appealed the decision before the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. Of the 13 accused CDR members, David Vallhonrat from Matadepera did not participate in the trial and therefore is not acquitted.