There are times when it seems the Spanish state doesn't care about blushing and rolling over any obstacle to achieve its objectives. This Tuesday we've seen various incidents which, put one next to the other, end up affecting the basic rights of the Catalan political prisoners and their legitimate right to defence: the violation of the equality of opportunities for an election debate and the intervention by Pedro Sánchez's government, through the interior ministry, getting directly involved in finishing the issue using the senseless argument of the timetable within the prison and how it could affect its normal operation. Could they have taken into account, for example, how the marathon sessions at the start of the trial in the Supreme Court affected the normal operation of a prison when the prisoners were getting up at 5am and returning when all the other inmates were in their cells when they couldn't even have dinner?
Both in the trial in the Supreme Court and in depriving the prisoners and exiles of their rights, the state has decided to kick things up a gear. Judge Manuel Marchena, who we've now seen for a few days with a quite different mood and tone to that of the first hearings, had various clashes with different witnesses. He locked horns in turn with Ramon Font, spokesperson for Escoles Obertes ("Open Schools"); the philosopher and essayist Marina Garcés, the lawyer Lluís Matamala and the Sant Joan de Vilatorrada councillor and professional clown Jordi Pesarrodona. He also clashed with the lawyer Benet Salellas at a moment when Cuixart's defence lawyer was asking about the different treatment being given by the court to the defence witnesses in terms of being able to talk without being cut off, in contrast to the benevolence shown to the witnesses from the Spanish police and Civil Guard. Marchena answered a simple response from Salellas that he had "no more questions" with an abrupt "much better". The professor Joan Queralt, always on the ball when any incident occurs in the trial, couldn't have been clearer: "For something similar, the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights, nullified the sentence against Otegi".
Whilst that was happening in the Supreme Court, where the judges even dominate the conversation whilst feeling offended because the defence are defending as best they can their clients, the Central Electoral Commission and Pedro Sánchez's government were doing their own thing, preventing first Oriol Junqueras from taking part in the debate between the heads of the candidate lists for the European Parliament on TV3, and later Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí as they wouldn't be physically present in the studio. All that was left to add was that if they were present they would be arrested. The violation of the candidates' rights is so flagrant and unjust on the part of the authorities that the debate shouldn't have been held. Especially because in the case of Junqueras, he didn't take part because the prison service didn't really feel like it.
Whilst Mariano Rajoy did so well from a headline talking about a "rain of millions" for Catalonia which never came, Pedro Sánchez is not to be outdone with the torrent of winks towards independence supporters. So much so that Iceta is looking like he'll be a frustrated candidate for speaker of the Spanish Senate if many things don't change.