Embezzlement of funds
Court denies Puigdemont amnesty
01.07.2024, 18:29
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
In order to have a majority in parliament, Spain’s Prime Minister Sanchez is promising Catalan activists an amnesty. The regional president Puigdemont is at the center of this. But now a court is blocking the annulment of his conviction – albeit for a different offense.
Spain’s highest court has denied amnesty to the former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont despite a new law. Judge Pablo Llarena “issued an order today declaring the amnesty inapplicable to the crime of embezzlement of funds in the case against” Puigdemont, the court said. The arrest warrant against the Catalan is therefore still in force.
The amnesty was intended to benefit Catalan activists who were persecuted by the Spanish judiciary after the failed secession attempt of the wealthy region in northeastern Spain in 2017. It is assumed that it could be relevant for around 400 people. Among them is Puigdemont himself, who wants to return to Spain after years in Belgian exile. The former Catalan regional president has been charged with embezzlement, rebellion against state authority and terrorism. An arrest warrant has been in place against him since 2017.
Tricky for Prime Minister Sanchez
Judge Llarena considered that the amnesty law was applicable to the offence of rebellion, but that the “behaviour” of which Puigdemont and two other Catalan activists were accused “fully complied with the two exceptions provided for in the law” with regard to the offence of embezzlement. The accusation of terrorism, which Puigdemont is accused of in a separate case, was not addressed in the ruling.
The amnesty law was a concession by the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to the pro-independence supporters, who are represented by two parties in the parliament in Madrid. Sánchez was dependent on their support after last year’s election in order to form a government majority. The amnesty plans triggered months of protests by the conservative opposition.
However, the responsible judges must now decide on the application of the amnesty in each individual case. The judges have two months to do this, during which they can also appeal to the Spanish Constitutional Court or the European Court of Justice. Many judges reject the amnesty regulation. If the amnesties are refused, this could become a problem for Sánchez, who still relies on the independence supporters for a majority in parliament.
Puigdemont reacted shortly after the verdict on the online service X. With the play on words “La Toga Nostra” (roughly: Our judge’s robe), he compared the judges to the Italian mafia organization Cosa Nostra. Puigdemont has three days to appeal against the verdict.