Report of David Widdicombe, LL.B, M.A., British Barrister, sponsored by the Society of Labour Lawyers, who attended as observer at the trial at Barcelona of Lopez Raimundo and 26 other leaders of the Barcelona General Strike

              PRESIDENT SAM WILD - VICE-PRESIDENT ALAN GILCHRIST - SECRETARY ALEC DIGGES
International Brigade Association and Friends of Republican Spain
374 GRAYS INN ROAD -   LONDON   -   W.C.1   -   PHONE   TERminus 3478
REPORT OF DAVID WIDDICOMBE, LL.B., M.A., BRITISH BARRISTER, SPONSORED BY THE SOCIETY OF LABOUR LAWYERS, WHO ATTENDED AS OBSERVER AT THE TRIAL AT BARCELONA OF LOPEZ RAIMUNDO AND 26 OTHER LEADERS OF THE BARCELONA GENERAL STRIKE.
On July 2nd and 3rd, Lopez Raimundo and 26 other political prisoners, one of whom was a woman, were tried at Barcelona for the offence of 'military rebellion' against Franco.     From the sound of this, one imagines quantities of bloodshed and bombs and an incipient rebellion crushed.     In fact, the 'offence' these prisoners had committed, and for which all except four of them have been sentenced, consisted of nothing more terrible than in indulging in propaganda against Franco and taking part in the Barcelona strikes in early 1951 - acts which in a democratic country are part of normal political activities in the exercise of free expression of speech and opinion.  There are none of these liberties in Franco Spain: 'military rebellion' makes it a crime to 'put out false or tendentious reports ... or hold meetings, conferences or make declarations ... with the aim of bringing into disrepute the State, the Army or the Authorities.  The 'crime' which these prisoners had committed was, in fact, to oppose Franco.
The trial was held in the solid headquarters building of the Gubiorno Militar in Barcelona, before a Military court composed of five serving Army officers in uniform.       Only 36 hours notice was given, and the Spanish press did not mention the trial until it was over.     It was a disappointment that no representatives of the foreign press were (as far as I am aware) present; but there were many foreign observers - lawyers from France, Belgium and Italy attended as well as myself, and there were British, French and American consular officers there, a measure of the international interest in the case.
The prisoners were brought in handcuffed in pairs, released and seated in a block of seats in the centre of the court.  Then the 'public' were admitted - almost all of them relatives, the mothers, wives, sweethearts and sisters of the prisoners, with a sprinkling of men.  They filled the standing space reserved for them at the rear of the court, straining on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of their menfolk, waving and blowing kisses.  The prisoners turned round in their seats and responded.  The sessions of the court were long and the Barcelona sun is hot, but these faithful people remained there throughout the whole trial, a token of the loyalty and support given to Raimundo and his colleagues.
The facts of the case, which were not in dispute, were recited by a gum-chewing, uniformed Prosecutor (or Fiscal) who lolled nonchalantly on his raised dais. Raimundo and other leading prisoners, all with Republican 'records' had returned to Spain in 1940, and reformed the United Socialist Party of Catalonia, a 'popular front' party, which though led by communists, included in its ranks other opponents of Franco.     They had printed and distributed two newspapers, Treball and Lluita, and distributed a third, Mundo Obrero.     In addition, other propaganda was seized by the police, much of it connected with the Barcelona strikes in which the prisoners had taken part.
Those facts were freely admitted by the prisoners when their time came to speak, and Raimundo affirmed his opposition to Franco in open Court.  It must take no little courage to speak thus, with a prison sentence of twenty years in a Spanish gaol hanging over one's head.     Raimundo's quiet sincerity impressed all those present, I think.
The law is a very sweeping one, and in face of it the defence, ably conducted though it was by eight lawyers of the prisoners' own choosing did not really have a chance.     The speeches made on behalf of the prisoners were eloquent and outspoken and referred to the economic sufferings of the Spanish people as the real cause of the trial.     Indeed behind all the proceedings one was conscious