LAST August's Barcelona terrorist attack is now only partially sub judice and the National Court has called up two witnesses under special protection.
Magistrate Fernando Andreu has summoned the as-yet unnamed pair to appear from 10.30 on Monday, August 6.
They will be allowed to view five of the nine pieces of evidence concerning persons killed or injured, property damage, notifications and other elements of the ongoing investigation.
The remaining four files will be kept under wraps and only accessible to police and the court.
They include information from property raids, telephone calls and other communications, including pictures of the terror cell handling explosives and of the fatal van attack on the Ramblas, both before the vehicle entered the pedestrianised street and after it left, plus footage of walkers being run over.
Cases normally remain sub judice for a period of about a month at a time and this status is continually renewed for as long as the court needs secrecy to avoid prejudicing its investigation work.
The inquiry is 'long and complicated' and if the details were known to 'affected parties' could render the entire operation 'futile', the National Court says.
Although the witnesses summoned will be permitted to see some of the case details if strictly necessary, they will be expressly prohibited from copying, distributing or otherwise revealing the contents.
Ripoll (Girona province) town council has applied to bring a private prosecution in its capacity as victim of damages, relating to its having to provide counselling to affected residents, use its Local Police officers to investigate, as well as harm to its public image because of the terrorists being linked to the mosque in the town and having grown up there.
But the magistrate and the Public Ministry do not consider Ripoll council to be a 'victim' of the attacks on August 17 on the Ramblas in Barcelona and the seafront in Cambrils (Tarragona province) given that it has not been directly affected, and the case is not concerned with 'damage to reputation'.
