Spanish Court Lifts Arrest Threat Against Catalan Separatist Leader

(MENAFN) Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont can return to Spain without facing immediate arrest after a Supreme Court judge reaffirmed Monday the cancellation of his arrest warrant, almost nine years after he left the country following an unsuccessful bid for independence.

Judge Pablo Llarena upheld his Oct. 6 decision to revoke the warrants against Puigdemont and former Catalan Cabinet ministers Antoni Comin and Lluis Puig. The ruling rejected an appeal filed by the far-right Vox party.

Llarena said a recent decision by Spain’s Constitutional Court opened the way for the country’s amnesty legislation to cover the cases involving the separatist figures.

However, he clarified that withdrawing the arrest warrants did not amount to formally granting Puigdemont amnesty. A separate ruling on whether criminal proceedings against him should be terminated remains the responsibility of the Supreme Court’s criminal chamber.

The latest development follows a Constitutional Court ruling in favor of Dolors Bassa, Catalonia’s former labor minister. The court rejected the Supreme Court’s interpretation that embezzlement connected to the 2017 independence referendum fell outside the scope of Spain’s amnesty law.

Although Llarena criticized the reasoning behind the Constitutional Court’s decision and defended the Supreme Court’s earlier position, he acknowledged that the higher court’s interpretation was binding.

Puigdemont headed Catalonia’s regional government during the 2017 independence referendum and the subsequent unilateral declaration of independence. He left for Belgium in October of that year to avoid prosecution in Spain.

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