Once once more a very relevant judicial decision arrives at the decisive moment of a negotiation between the Government and the independentists. If on November 7 it was the judge of the National Court Manuel García-Castellón who wrote an order implicating Carles Puigdemont in the caso Tsunami for the alleged crime of terrorism, just on the day in which the investiture pact between the PSOE and Junts was scheduled to be closed in Brussels, this time it was the Supreme Court that decided on Thursday to charge the leader of Junts, who is certified, for the same crime. as a MEP. It happened just when positions were approaching to close the amnesty law, whose deadline ends on the 7th, next week.
In November, that order from García-Castellón greatly complicated the negotiation, which was finally closed four days later in the midst of great tension, and other movements by this magistrate have generated many nerves and changes of position in Junts, which demanded more changes. However, now different sources from both sectors agree that the Government and the independentists, not only Junts, but also ERC – which is awaiting any reform that is agreed upon – are determined to shield the negotiation from judicial pressure.
It does not seem that the new Supreme Court resolution, which was openly criticized by the pro-independence supporters while the PSOE, as usual, remained silent and expressed its respect for any judicial decision, is going to alter this time a negotiation that is very advanced. All the sources consulted agree that an agreement is very likely soon, although no one can take it for granted, given the history. But some of these sources point out that the Supreme Court’s decision even forces the negotiators even more to reach an agreement, given the evidence that a part of the justice system wants to prevent the amnesty from having real effects at all costs.
The president, Pedro Sánchez, has not spoken regarding it this time, but his position was already very clear a month ago in a press conference in Brussels, when he said that “all independentists will be pardoned because they are not terrorists.” The Government insists that in the process There was no terrorism, and in private some of its members joke regarding the “coincidence” that the decision came just when the negotiation of the law is being finalized, but in public the message continues to be one of total respect for justice. The Executive is closer to the position of the Prosecutor’s Office, which insists that there was no terrorism, but rather aggravated public disorders, in the demonstrations at the Barcelona airport in 2019.
The Catalan independence parties agreed in criticizing the background of the judicial decision and in accusing the Supreme Court of ignoring the division of powers. From the ranks of Junts, its spokesperson, Josep Rius, accused the magistrates of wanting to “interfere with the will of the legislature” with the accusation of terrorism, making indirect reference to the parliamentary negotiation to approve the amnesty law. For her part, Republican Marta Vilaret criticized the Supreme Court for wanting to become a “political actor.”
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Rius did not specifically refer to the effect that Puigdemont’s accusation has on the negotiations between Junts and the PSOE, but in his speech he made it clear that he sees a willingness on the part of the judiciary to “come down to the political arena” and took refuge in the discretion that has marked the negotiations with the socialists so as not to delve into the idea. But sources from the party insisted that the Supreme Court’s argument is so “outrageous” that it will not affect the negotiations of the second attempt to approve the amnesty.
“Everyone knows that there was no terrorism in Catalonia during the process, that Tsunami Democràtic proposed non-violent protests and that the evidence of responsibility of the accused is very weak,” added Vilaret, deputy secretary of ERC. “The free exercise of the right to demonstrate cannot be called terrorism,” Rius said.
Within the ranks of the Republicans they suggested that if Junts had not voted once morest the procedure in Congress, it would now be possible to avoid any additional turbulence in the negotiation. However, ERC and Junts put aside their differences and their daily exchange of reproaches for a day to send messages of mutual support and put the accusing finger on the Judiciary, which they see given over to the agenda of “the right and the extreme right.” as he said in a message on X (formerly Twitter) president, Pere Aragonès, who insisted that the Supreme Court has taken “a political decision, not a legal one”.
For now, in Junts the idea is once once more reinforced that it is better to bunker up to guarantee, as in other key moments of the legislature, that everything will come to a good end. Puigdemont once once more resorted to his messages in X to establish a position. There he was ironic regarding the accusation and also took the opportunity to deny information regarding The confidential regarding the alleged gift of a 7,000 euro watch by a company that organized several events for independentists. “I think I just need to get a secret account in Panama. He matrix The Spanish judicial system has adapted the maxim of bad journalism: do not let reality ruin a good accusation,” said the former Catalan president.
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