09.12.2020 - 17:09
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Actualització: 09.12.2020 - 18:09
From the beginning, Catalonia’s pro-independence camp has found consensus in demanding an amnesty for all those involved in the 2017 referendum, both those imprisoned and those in exile. Today Wednesday, JxCat, ERC and CUP presented a motion in the Catalan Parliament asking for Spain’s Congress to pass a law of amnesty for “all acts with political intention linked to the democratic struggle for Catalonia’s self-determination” since 1 January 2013.
They already put forward this petition in the talks between the Catalan and Spanish governments in February – but they did not get an affirmative response and it is very unlikely that they do now, as this would imply Spain’s Congress passing a law exonerating exiled president Carles Puigdemont and those currently in prison.
More realistic options but also far from secure would be a pardon and a reform of the criminal code, both proposed by the Socialist-led executive in Madrid. Spain’s cabinet is supposedly working on modifying the crime of sedition, among others, which would force the Supreme Court to rework the sentence. Given that some political prisoners are also facing a conviction for misuse of funds, and without more details on the extent of the reform, it remains to be seen whether the three years they have already served would be enough.
In November, the government said they would move forward with the new legislation before the end of the year. Nonetheless, so far there has been no news on the matter and Spain’s justice minister has pulled back from the idea that this will be passed by the end of the ye
