An examining magistrate from Spain's National Audience, Ismael Moreno, has decided to archive the lawsuit for crimes against humanity presented by nine members of the public against the Spanish police for their actions during the 2017 referendum, Catalan public broadcaster TV3 has reported.
The judge said that "minimally accredited data or objective elements which would allow for charges are neither provided nor documented", describing the police's actions as "proportionate" and "legitimate". The lawsuit, the judge continues, "hasn't the minimum rigour" .
Public prosecutors opposed the lawsuit, arguing in a filing that independence supporters knew that the path they were following "ran the risk of serious altercations and disturbances of the peace occurring" with "great possibilities of risk and a lack of safety for the population".
Along similar lines, the judge argues that those behind the referendum put the public into an "unarguable situation of risk by opposing police officers who would attend to fulfill their role to maintain the constitutional order". "In the face of these events, the state had the obligation to use all means necessary it had at its disposal to maintain public safety and restore the constitutional order," he continues.