Amnesty law not applicable to crimes of misuse of public funds, Supreme Court rules

The Spanish Supreme Court announced on Monday that the amnesty law for all those linked to the Catalan independence push cannot apply to crimes of misuse of public funds.

The court rejected the appeals filed by Spain's general prosecutor, the general attorney and many pro-independence leaders who were found guilty of embezzlement.

Those who had appealed the decision are former vice president Oriol Junqueras, former foreign minister Raül Romeva, former labor and family minister Dolors Bassa, and former minister of the presidency Jordi Turull.

With the ruling, these politicians will remain barred from holding public office, as part of their original sentence.

The judges believe that the accused committed crimes of misuse of public funds for personal enrichment.

The decision of the judges was not unanimous; one vote disagreed with the decision, considering that the rest of the magistrates operate in the "territory of legal fiction."

The ruling points out that the text of the approved law reflects the "unequivocal desire of the legislator to set restrictions on the projection of amnesty with respect to the crime of embezzlement." They argue that the traditional notion of personal wealth includes not only assets but also liabilities - debts and obligations.

In addition, the Supreme Court warns of "absolutism" in mechanically applying a law to all cases, warning that laws "cannot be interpreted as a verbal mandate directed by the political power to the judges."

"The image of the judge as a mute mouth who must limit his function to proclaiming legal consequences that flow from the literalness of the norm represents an outmoded image that appellants now present as the democratic ideal of a justice that respects the legislative power," they add.

'We'll go to the last step required'

The Catalan pro-independence party, Esquerra Republicana, called on the dismissal as they consider it is the "Supreme that keeps a rebellion against democracy and denies of enforcing the amnesty law," the political group wrote on social media.

Esquerra will now "appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court, as we will go to the last step required to guarantee that Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa, and Jordi Turull recover their rights. " The first three were part of Esquerra, while Turull is leader of Junts.

Junqueras has said that the judicial power is "overplaying" democracy and attacked the amnesty law.

"We will not stop fighting to defend and win the civil rights that some deny us," Junqueras, the former president of Esquerra, wrote on X.

Filling the Sink

Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez was sworn in as prime minister in November, bringing an end to a four-month long saga of inconclusive results from the July election. 

However, the re-election came with a controversial amnesty deal that would benefit those involved in the Catalan pro-independence push of the last decade, including exiled political leaders. 

Listen to our Filling the Sink podcast episode published in November to learn more.