BARCELONA: Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld arrest warrants for Catalonia’s former leader and others charged with embezzlement over the region’s failed secession bid, as it ruled that a recent amnesty law does not apply to them.

The decision could scupper the fragile Socialist-led coalition ruling Spain and have personal implications for ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who is living in France in self-imposed exile. Puigdemont’s Junts party said it would appeal.

Its secretary-general, Jordi Turull, called the decision a “political decision that breaks the elemental norms of a democracy” and accused judges of staging a “coup” by trying to assume the legislative branch’s role to torpedo the law’s application. An amnesty law passed on May 30 was meant to pardon those involved in the 2017 attempt to declare Catalonia’s independence from Madrid in exchange for the critical support of separatist parties for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s new term after an inconclusive election. The judge Pablo Llarena said in his writ he would continue to seek the arrest of Puigdemont and his former deputies Toni Comin and Lluis Puig, who were in charge of Catalonia’s health and culture departments, respectively. A withdrawal of support from Junts for bills such as the 2025 budget could leave Sanchez unable to govern and trigger new elections.

The amnesty does not apply to those who committed embezzlement with the intention of personally enriching themselves or if it affected the European Union’s financial interests. Llarena argued that the alleged conduct of Puigdemont, Comin and Puig “fully fits within the two exceptions contemplated in the law”.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024