Two Spanish police officers on trial accused of abusing a Flemish citizen who addressed them in Catalan

Two Spanish Guardia Civil agents face two years in prison for discriminating and harassing a Flemish citizen who addressed them in Catalan at Barcelona airport in December 2019. At the security check, Kris Charlier told the security officers and the Guardia Civil agents that he was carrying a collection bag due to a colon cancer operation, but they pretended not to understand him.

Charlier, who lives in Catalonia, speaks Catalan but not Spanish, so he asked for a French or English translator. The police refused. To try to resolve the situation, he took off his trousers to show the bag, but then the attitude of the agents got even worse. They  reported him for disturbing public order and took him to a secluded room. He was first allowed to board the plane, but was then asked to get off again. As a consequence, Charlier lost his flight to Brussels.

Charlier, who fought for the rights of Flemish in Belgium back in the 60s and 70s, told VilaWeb that “in no case should anyone be discriminated because they speak the local language, which in Catalonia is and has always been Catalan”.

Kris Charlier will testify on Thursday 6 May in the criminal investigation court 3 of El Prat de Llobregat.