Amnesty granted to 46 Spanish police officers accused of baton charges in 2017 Catalan referendum
Court says officers covered by pardon because investigated actions were 'brief' and 'defined'
A Barcelona court has granted amnesty to 46 Spanish national police officers who were being prosecuted for their actions during the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.
The officers were about to go on trial after the court found evidence of possible police abuses, including injuries and crimes against the moral integrity of pro-independence voters.
Now the court decided to grant them amnesty because the actions under investigation were "of short individual duration, within a defined police objective, and ceased when the objective was achieved."
The judge also points out that none of their actions "exceeded the limit of severity" to be excluded from the amnesty law, which allows to pardon "crimes of injury punished by up to five years of imprisonment."
Prosecutors wanted the case to go to trial to determine whether the crimes of moral integrity rose to the level of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment, which are not covered by the amnesty law.
The civic and human rights organizations Òmnium, Irídia and ANC, acting as prosecutors, have already announced that they will appeal the decision.
They argue that the acts under investigation are excluded from the amnesty law because they may constitute crimes that are excluded from the law.
The pro-independence Esquerra party said it was "dissatisfied and outraged" by the decision, saying the "most serious" cases were "explicitly excluded" from the law.
The police union Jupol celebrated the decision, saying that it "puts an end to the legal nightmare" of the officers.
However, the union opposes the law because it puts police officers and "promoters of a coup d'état" on the same level.
Catalonia's independence vote on October 1, 2017, which was deemed illegal by Spain, was marred by violence, with 1,066 people requiring medical attention as a result of Spanish police charges, according to the Catalan health department.
Spanish government will not modify amnesty law
Following the Supreme Court's decision not to grant amnesty to several pro-independence leaders, arguing that the misuse of public funds was not covered by the law, the Spanish government said it would not change the text.
"The wording of the amnesty law is absolutely clear and obvious. As is the will of those who wrote it. It is as clear as the words and the wording of the law," said the Spanish government spokesperson Pilar Alegría.
With this decision, the government leaves the final decision to the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether or not the misuse of public funds is covered by the law.