Spain's National Audience has lifted the seal on its investigation into seven members of the Catalan Committees for Defence of the Republic (CDR). The seven are currently being held without bail in Madrid, accused of terrorism. A number of legal sources say the lifting of secrecy took place two days ago. Nonetheless, defence sources say they still haven't had access to the case documentation and won't get it until next week, once it has been digitised.
Eva Pous, a lawyer with the organisation Alerta Solidària which is in charge of defending the seven, has told El Nacional that they have submitted a request for copies of the case. The time needed for the digitisation process means that the seven's own lawyers won't have access to the evidence against their clients until next week. Pous adds they have also sent a team to Madrid to ask for copies.
It's almost a month since National Audience judge Manuel García Castellón, on 26th September, ordered the seven be held in pretrial detention without bail after four hours of hearings. Their alleged crimes are membership of a terrorist organisation, manufacture and possession of explosives and conspiracy to cause damage. The prisoners are alleged to form part of so-called Tactical Response Teams.
The investigating judge describes these teams as "an organisation with a hierarchical structure which aims to establish the Catalan Republic by any means, including violence."