Supreme Court upholds convictions of Catalan independence leaders | Catalonia

Spain’s Supreme Court has ruled that the embezzlement of public funds by Catalan independence leaders is not covered by an amnesty law. The decision is a blow to Pedro Sanchez’s government, which had promised to pardon the leaders in exchange for parliamentary support from Catalan parties.

The Supreme Court issued two separate rulings on Monday, but they go in the same direction. Judges in the court’s criminal chamber decided to overturn the convictions of the four independent politicians under the “practicalThe charge of embezzlement of public funds remains in place, while investigating judge Pablo Llarena has maintained arrest warrants for fugitive Catalan leaders, including former Catalan regional government president Carles Puigdemont.

In this way, the convictions of the former vice-president of the Catalan government, Oriol Junqueras, and the former councillors Raúl Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Basa are maintained, as well as their ban from holding public office for several years. In addition to Puigdemont, national arrest warrants remain in place for the former state councillors Toni Comín and Luis Puig. The decision of the criminal chamber is final, but Llarena’s decision may still be subject to appeal, he explained. No Vanguardia.

The Supreme Court’s ruling was supported by four of the five judges on the Criminal Chamber panel, with only Judge Ana Ferrer voting in favour, who is advocating for a case on the matter to be opened before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The Supreme Court judges are aware that the Catalan leaders’ aim is to “benefit” from the allocation of public funds to organize initiatives linked to the independence process, in particular the referendum of October 1, 2017, which the Spanish judicial system considers illegal.

The judges say the convicts “did with the property of others entrusted to them what they could not or would not do with their own property.” “Punishment in property crimes is not justified by taking someone else’s things, but by taking someone else’s things,” reads the sentence cited by the judge. The pays.

The argument used by the Supreme Court is relevant because the amnesty law approved at the end of May stipulates that convictions for embezzlement of public funds will only be covered “when there is no purpose of enrichment”. The thesis of the Spanish Supreme Court judges is that the independence leaders, having used money from the public treasury, ended up not having to use their own resources and that this savings constitutes “enrichment”.

The court also ruled on the legislative process that led to the amnesty law – a key part of negotiating the parliamentary support of Catalan parties for Sánchez’s government – ​​and highlighted the “high-speed pace” of the debates in Congress. The judges also criticised the “deliberate leniency of the Spanish legislator towards fraudsters convicted by final judgment”, highlighting the “blatant contradiction” with the EU’s commitment to combat the crime of misappropriation of public funds.

It is still unclear what the political impact of the Supreme Court’s decision will be, but there remains a risk to the understanding between the Socialist Party and the independence parties that support the central government and whose support is crucial to the approval of crucial laws, such as the electoral law and the next budget.

The secretary general of Together for Catalonia, Jordi Turull, called the ruling a “blow to the state” and accused the Supreme Court of violating the principle of separation of powers. “The judiciary is once again weakening the will of the legislature,” he added. Puigdemont responded to the ruling with a message on the X network: “A Toga Nostra.”