Several MEPs will request to act as international observers in the upcoming trial against 18 leaders for the 2017 independence push in Catalonia. They announced the move on Monday, after a delegation of European Parliament representatives visited the leaders incarcerated in the Lledoners prison – on a day they are also set to visit all the penitentiary centers holding Catalan politicians.

They will make the official petition through the EU-Catalonia Dialogue Platform, the name of a group of MEPs aiming to persuade the EU to intervene in the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain.

European members of organizations in favor of human rights will also be able to request acting as international observers in the trial expected to start in early 2019.

No guarantees

The French MEP and trade union leader José Bové was one of the representatives in the delegation. “We have no guarantees” he said speaking to the press about the trial. For him, the conditions the prosecuted individuals are set to face are “a true problem of democracy.”

Bové was joined in his visit by other MEPs, such as Bodil Valero from Sweden, Matt Carthy from Ireland, and Jill Evans from Wales, along with some Catalan and Valencian representatives.

It’s not the first time that a delegation of MEPs visits the incarcerated officials. On September 7, 13 politicians from several groups and countries led by former Slovene minister Ivo Vajgl went to Lledoners, Puig de les Basses and Mas d’Enric prisons.