Guillem Sanchez
Barcelona – Thursday, 10/24/2019 – 22:22
The body will take internal measures to clear responsibilities of malpractice although it will be “fair” and without “urgency or content anyone”
The dome of the Mossos d’Esquadra has fully met this Thursday at the headquarters of the Egara Complex (Sabadell) from 12 noon until 2:30 p.m. According to sources consulted by EL PERIÓDICO, it has been a meeting to make a “first analysis” at the “operational, social and institutional” level of the serious altercations experienced in Catalonia during the last ten days. Self-criticism has been made, “only” measures have been announced against proven cases of malpractice and the “lack of institutional support” they have received from the Government of Catalonia has been regretted – excepting for the Interior department team headed by Miquel Buch – and from the Parliament of Catalonia.
The chief commissioner, Eduard Sallent, has assessed that the Mossos-led device deployed in collaboration with the National Police Corps (CNP) and the Civil Guard has fulfilled its objective: to guarantee the rights and freedoms of all citizens. Although you can not talk about “success” because the balance is of more than 500 people injured, between protesters and police.
Support for those responsible
All commissioners, and some mayor also present at the meeting, have used their turn of speech to, among other issues, give their support to those responsible for the operation. According to their story, agents from various parts of the territory have transmitted to them that they have lived “a hell”. For the Mossos there have been situations “very dangerous caused by violent groups that put the physical integrity of the agents at risk.” In clashes such as the Vía Layetana or Urquinaona square, or in front of the Delegation of the Spanish Government, or at some moments of the blockade of terminal T-1 at the airport, the police task ended up consisting more in protecting their own security than in safeguarding political institutions or critical infrastructure.
Knowledgeable sources of the meeting say that during the meeting the contribution of the National Police Force has been valued, which has a different public order model that, however, has ended up being necessary to overcome altercations such as last Friday, in Urquinaona square.
Self-criticism
Before President Quim Torra has managed to launch his parliamentary commission to investigate controversial actions starring the Mossos, the Catalan body has already activated internal mechanisms to debug them. Although during the meeting, always according to the sources consulted by this newspaper, it has been stressed that not all will deserve the same response.
There are some that will be acted upon immediately because “they offend citizens” and because “they disrespect the agents who have worked these days on the street.” To this group belongs the mosso that from the loudspeaker of a van sent to the neighbors the provocation message: “Veniu, que som gent de pau” (Come, we are peaceful people) (mocking the lema protesters use themselves even during violent attacks). There are others that, despite being reprehensible, need to be analyzed and contextualized. Like the foam pitcher of the Mobile Brigade (Brimo) who jelly with a “Take, son of a bitch!” his success in a shot against a protester and then asks for “forgiveness.” These are two situations, the speaker and the foam, which are not comparable and will be treated differently.
There is a third group of images that will also be reviewed because “citizens do not like” but that may be due to the complexity of “maintaining public order” in situations of “extreme violence to the limit.”
For the Mossos, the time will come to give public explanations to Catalan society and to take all appropriate measures to debug responsibilities. But it will be done following only “fair and rigorous” criteria. “It will not be done in any case to please anyone and will not fall into any urgency,” it has been made clear, in another implicit allusion to President Torra.
Lack of institutional support
The Mossos d’Esquadra are aware of the high impact that the events of recent days have had on their image. And they have lamented that much of the damage is due to decontextualized images that pollute the story interestingly. They notice that they have even lost the trust of many citizens. “It will be time to work to recover it,” they conjure up.
On the contrary, during the meeting they have also lamented for the first time, and openly, “the absolute lack of institutional support they have received from the authorities.” Without naming them, they referred to the Government of Torra or the speaker of the Parliament, Roger Torrent. “Tweets and words,” such as the one from Torrent who deemed “incomprehensible that a group of armed neo-Nazis can cross half a city to the center of Barcelona and beating people with impunity. It is not understood and they should demand responsibilities. Enough.”
On the contrary, the dome has noticed that it has regained the trust of other institutions, such as the judiciary and the prosecutor’s office, which have transmitted to them that they are “a reliable body.” Sallent wanted to make it clear at the end of the meeting that the Mossos “have always been reliable” although he has celebrated that trust with justice has normalized.
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