Spanish judge’s terrorism investigation jeopardises Catalan amnesty

The Spanish government’s attempts to implement a contentious amnesty that would benefit Catalan nationalists are being hampered by a judicial investigation and have triggered a war of words within Socialist Party prime minister Pedro Sánchez.

The Socialists presented the amnesty Bill, which seeks to withdraw pending legal action against more than 300 nationalists for separatist activity, to Congress in November. The move secured for Mr Sánchez the parliamentary support of nationalists, including the pro-independence Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party, allowing him to form a new government.

The Bill must be approved by Congress and the Senate before being implemented. Last week, the Socialists agreed with JxCat and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) on amendments to the Bill to ensure that it overcomes possible legal hurdles.

Some of the potential beneficiaries of the amnesty are being investigated for terrorist offences linked to pro-independence protests in Barcelona in October 2019. Democratic Tsunami, an activist group, is believed to have co-ordinated the actions, which included temporarily bringing Barcelona airport to a standstill.

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The agreed changes to the amnesty legislation seek to protect those under investigation for such offences by differentiating between terrorism that causes serious violations of human rights, particularly as laid out under international law, and that which does not. That distinction meant, for example, that Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan president who has been investigated for possible links to Democratic Tsunami, could be included in the amnesty.

Mr Puigdemont, the de facto leader of JxCat, has been living in self-imposed exile since leading a failed secession attempt by his region in 2017. He would be the most high-profile beneficiary of the law.

However, on Thursday, the national court judge Manuel García-Castellon, who has been investigating those allegedly involved in the events of 2019, responded to the amnesty amendment by issuing a report suggesting that Democratic Tsunami may have breached human rights. That assertion, with its timing, has been widely read as a bid to exclude Mr Puigdemont from the amnesty.

In the document, Mr García-Castellón states that the protests were “incompatible with the right to life and physical integrity” guaranteed by the Spanish constitution and European Convention on Human Rights.

The amnesty is expected to overcome its first major parliamentary vote on Tuesday, although the judge’s actions underline how controversial it is.

The initiative has become the main focus of attack for the right-wing opposition, which has portrayed it as an unconstitutional and cynical move by Mr Sánchez aimed at ensuring the parliamentary support of JxCat’s seven MPs.

Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, of the conservative Popular Party (PP), said that the amendment to which Mr Sánchez had agreed meant that now “there are two types of terrorism: that which violates human rights and that which guarantees you seven votes to remain [in power].”

More damagingly for Mr Sánchez, the Socialist president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page, has also spoken out, insisting that “there is no good terrorism and bad terrorism” and warning that his party is “on the outer reaches of the constitution”.

Transport minister Óscar Puente hit back by saying that Mr García-Page, who is the party’s most powerful regional leader, “is on the outer reaches of the Socialist Party”.

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