Spain prosecutor accuses Catalan separatists of using 'human shields'

A Spanish public prosecutor on Wednesday accused Catalan separatist leaders of trying to use "human shields" to block police during their failed secession bid in 2017.

On the second day of the separatist leaders' trial, Supreme Court prosecutor Fidel Cadena also rejected arguments by defence lawyers who said the trial was politically motivated, saying "anyone can have the ideas they want".

"What is penalised... is behaviour carried out over time which aimed... at the subversion and rupture of the constitutional order, calling for violent methods through the use of the masses as human shields" against police, he said.

Twelve Catalan separatist politicians and activists face years behind bars if they are convicted of rebellion or other charges for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017, in defiance of a court ban, and a brief declaration of independence.

Under Spanish law, rebellion is defined as "rising up in a violent and public manner". But the key, divisive question is whether there was any violence.

Prosecutors point to "violent incidents" during protests orchestrated by two grassroots groups in the lead up to the referendum. Activists surrounded a Catalan economy ministry building on September 20, 2017 while national police carried out a search inside to try to stop the vote from going ahead.

At least three police vehicles were vandalised and their occupants forced to flee into the building, where for hours a group of police officers remained trapped by the crowds outside.

Prosecutors also accuse the separatists of fostering "acts of violence and aggression against police officers" on the day of the referendum.

Supporters of independence deny the accusation of violence. They instead condemn a police operation to shut down the referendum, which saw voters beaten with batons and dragged away from polling stations, images of which were seen around the world.

Another public prosecutor, Javier Zaragoza, accused the defence of wanting to "create a deformed version of reality to discredit Spanish justice."