The Constitutional Court (TC) has already notified the Supreme Court (TS) of the ruling that orders it to amnesty the crime of embezzlement weighing on several leaders of the 'procés', including the former Catalan president and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, as confirmed by sources from the court of guarantees.
The resolution, which has also been transferred to the parties, also incorporates the dissenting vote of the five disagreeing members and sets the criterion of the progressive majority of the Plenary, which this Tuesday supported the report of the president of the high court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, in favor of applying the amnesty to the former ERC minister Dolors Bassa for the embezzlement for which she was convicted by the Supreme Court.
The TC annuls the Supreme Court's orders and forces a repeat of the ruling
In its ruling, the Constitutional Court declares the nullity of the challenged orders that denied the amnesty and orders the proceedings to be set back to the moment immediately prior to the issuance of the first of them, so that the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, which judged the case, issues a new ruling in which it declares the crime of embezzlement of public funds for which Dolors Bassa was convicted to be amnestied, according to the note released by the TC itself.
The decision also affects other individuals convicted for the same facts, such as former vice president Oriol Junqueras and former ministers Raül Romeva and Jordi Turull, current secretary general of Junts, who now await the Supreme Court to apply the amnesty to them. In a similar situation to that of Carles Puigdemont, as prosecuted but not judged because they fled justice, are former ministers Toni Comín and Lluís Puig.
Puigdemont criticizes judicial action and speaks of “political repression”
From Waterloo, Carles Puigdemont appeared after the decision of the Constitutional Court and described the resolution as a “defeat of the strategy of public powers that have delayed its application for strictly political reasons”. The leader of Junts also denounced “the improper use of judicial powers over a conflict that belongs to politics”.
During his speech, Carles Puigdemont described as “political repression” the national arrest warrant that weighed on him for years and assured that the last nine years have had “personal, family, social and political” consequences. Despite this, he stressed that the lifting of the arrest warrant “is not in itself a solution” to the conflict between Catalonia and the State.
No return date and awaiting the Supreme Court to apply the amnesty
Carles Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, has recommended caution regarding the date of return to Spain and has indicated that the former president of the Generalitat will not return until the Supreme Court applies the amnesty “in full”. For now, there is no fixed date for that return.
In parallel, Puigdemont has assured that he plans to take a tour of Catalonia to learn about the current situation of the community, while the effective application of the Constitutional Court's resolution by the high court remains pending.
