The Spanish judge investigating alleged links between Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont and Russia announced that he had extended his investigation for six months and affirmed that his close entourage had also had relations with the German or Italian extreme right. This decision comes as Spanish deputies must vote on Tuesday at first reading a highly controversial amnesty law in favor of separatists involved in the attempted secession of Catalonia in 2017.
The adoption of this law was demanded by the party of Carles Puigdemont in exchange for the essential support of the deputies of his party Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), for the reappointment to power in mid-November of the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. In a judicial document dated Friday and sent to the press on Monday, the magistrate in charge of this case indicates that he has decided to “extend the investigation for a period of six months from its current deadline set for February 27”.
Contacts with the Kremlin?
“Given the extraordinary complexity of the matter, […] it is absolutely impossible to complete the investigation” within the allotted time, underlines this judge from the Barcelona court. This investigation intends in particular to determine whether Carles Puigdemont, Catalan regional president during the secession attempt, had contacts with the Kremlin and sought to obtain Russian support for a possible independence of Catalonia in exchange for “quid pro quo”, in particular financial.
By “examining a significant part of the documentation” placed in the file, the investigating judge “found data identifying people which would confirm the close personal relationships between some of the people targeted by the investigation and individuals of Russian, German nationality or Italian,” the court document states.
“Links with Russian secret services”
These individuals “occupied, some of them, diplomatic functions or had links with the Russian secret services”, assures the magistrate, who affirms that their action was part of “the political strategy of the Russian government […] destabilization of democracy and the European Union. “Others (were) influential members of political parties of the German or Italian extreme right,” said the magistrate. Carles Puigdemont and several relatives are targeted by this investigation.