Two protesters who participated in demonstrations against Puigdemont’s arrest in Germany go on trial

The trial against Laia Roca and Lluís Mollon begins at the Provincial Court of Barcelona. The Prosecutor’s Office accuses them of committing crimes of public disturbance and attacking authority at the March 2018 protest against the arrest of President Carles Puigdemont, and calls for two years in prison for Laia Roca and up to six for Lluís Mollon, in addition to fines of possibly more than 8,000 euros. The only evidence against them is the testimony of two plainclothes City Police officers who identified them when they were returning home; the Prosecutor’s Office has not been able to find any visual evidence against them. Furthemore, two City Police agents contradicted themselves during the trial in their accounts of the events. On 31 July, the second chamber of the Provincial Court of Barcelona convicts them of public disturbance but reduces the sentences to one year in prison for Laia, and one and a half years for Lluís.