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The association European Democratic Lawyers has questioned whether the Catalan independence trial is just and called for the prisoners to be released. The body has held a general assembly in Madrid and released a statement on the hearings due to start on Tuesday, warning that not all relevant legal guarantees are being met.

The association argues that the defendants haven't had enough time to prepare their case. They also express concern over the interpretation made of violence and warn that any guilty verdict could violate the European Convention on Human Rights. They will send observers from different European countries.

More generally, they say that the fact that the members of the Supreme Court, which will hear the case, are chosen by the General Council for the Judiciary, and that that body's members are elected by the Congress could "seriously" affect the independence of the judges. They reject the court's jurisdiction over the case and note that the defendants will have no options for appeal within Spain.

The lawyers call for the immediate release of the prisoners from their pretrial detention; they believe they're being held for political reasons. They note they will have to get up at 6am every day, spend at least two hours travelling to court and back and will be locked in separate rooms during the breaks. This, they believe, could over three months have "negative consequences for their ability to defend themselves".

Finally, they note that the conditions of their transfer from prisons in Catalonia to Madrid have been denounced for the conduct of some of the police officers involved.