By Joan Faus and Emma Pinedo
BARCELONA/MADRID, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Spain’s Supreme Court lifted an arrest warrant for self-exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday, opening the way for his expected return to the country just as it is gearing up for an early national election.
The move came shortly after Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled that courts must apply an amnesty law to Catalan separatists, including in embezzlement cases.
The former Catalan head of government can now return to Spain without fear of arrest after fleeing to Belgium in 2017, and his likely homecoming could further unsettle an already volatile political landscape ahead of the November 29 election.
The Constitutional Court, which has a progressive-leaning majority, ruled in favour of an appeal filed by Catalan separatist politician Dolors Bassa against a Supreme Court ruling that the amnesty law does not apply to the crime of embezzlement.
Puigdemont was charged with embezzling state funds to hold an illegal independence referendum when he headed Catalonia’s regional government in 2017. He denied the charge.
The amnesty, which triggered strong social and political opposition, was the defining legislation of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s current term. His Socialist Party and two Catalan separatist parties, including Puigdemont’s Junts, agreed to the legislation in 2023 in exchange for their support for him to remain prime minister.
Junts has since withdrawn its support for the minority central government. Unable to pass laws, Sanchez called the snap election on Monday.
FRESH DRAMA
Although separatism has lost ground, with Catalans more concerned about law and order and migration and Junts trailing in opinion polls, Puigdemont’s return could spark fresh drama in Spanish and Catalan politics.
Junts broke its alliance with the Socialists a year ago over what it said were unfulfilled promises, and Junts’ opposition effectively killed two housing decrees last week, leading Sanchez to call the election.
Spain’s conservative People’s Party is leading in opinion polls ahead of the election and may need to seek the support of Junts and other centre-right parties to govern.
Catalonia unilaterally declared independence from Spain in 2017 after a referendum that the Spanish government and courts said was illegal. Although some 90% of voters backed independence, Catalans who wanted to remain part of Spain mostly boycotted the ballot and many polling stations were shut.
Puigdemont then fled the country while several of his former ministers stayed and were jailed.
Last year, the Constitutional Court upheld core elements of the amnesty law, which has benefited hundreds of separatists, but the judge handling Puigdemont’s case had said it did not apply to him as he was also accused of embezzlement.
(Reporting by Joan Faus and Emma Pinedo, editing by Aislinn Laing, Andrei Khalip, Rod Nickel and Gareth Jones)
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