The former Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, testified as a witness in the Catalan trial today. He said direct rule was enforced in answer to an exceptional situation. His deputy blamed referendum organizers for the Spanish police violence on October 1st. The former Spanish finance minister also spoke, as did a former Catalan president, commenting on the session with other officials. Meanwhile, a former president of FC Barcelona was freed after 21 months in precautionary detention. Spain's National Court made the ruling during a trial against him for misappropriating money from the sale of football TV rights.