The Supreme Court of Spain has upheld the annulment of the national arrest warrant for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. Judge Pablo Llarena rejected the appeal by the “Vox“ party against the October 6 decision, which initially temporarily lifted the measure.
The same decision also applies to former Catalan ministers Toni Comín and Luis Puig. All three are linked to the case of the attempted secession of Catalonia from Spain in 2017. National search and detention orders for them had been in force since October of that year.
Llarena is referring to the Constitutional Court's mandatory interpretation of the application of the amnesty law. It was formulated in a case against former Catalan minister Dolors Bassa and accepts that the amnesty can cover the use of public funds to hold the banned independence referendum and related expenses.
The path to return is open
The cancellation of the order removes the main legal obstacle to Puigdemont's return to Spain. He left the country after Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence and has been living in Belgium for years. If he returns to Spain, he would no longer have to be detained under this national order.
However, the decision does not mean that all procedures in the case are over. After the possible examination of the remaining appeals, the competent court must give a final ruling on the application of the amnesty and the closure of the proceedings against Puigdemont, Comín and Puig.
Puigdemont welcomed the decision but said it does not resolve the political dispute between Madrid and Barcelona. “Regarding relations between Catalonia and Spain, nothing is being decided today“, he said after the initial cancellation of the order.
The Catalan leader has not announced a specific date for his return. His position is that he wants the amnesty to be fully implemented first and the legal proceedings against him to be definitively terminated.
Sources: rtve.es, elpais.com, efe.com