Puigdemont files complaint against Supreme Court judge over amnesty appeals delay

The amnesty law for those who have sought independence for Catalonia came into effect in June after being published in the Spanish government's official gazette.

However, the amnesty has not yet been applied to Carles Puigdemont, the former president of Catalonia who spearheaded the 2017 independence referendum. 

The situation came to a head two weeks ago when the Junts politician returned to Barcelona briefly to give a speech on the morning of the Catalan presidential investiture debate, only to leave the country again and return to Belgium when it was widely expected that he would be arrested. 

The Supreme Court judge in charge of his case, Pablo Llarena, has refused to apply the amnesty to his case, believing that the charges of misuse of public funds were not covered by the pardoning law. 

Now, Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, has filed a legal complaint against Llarena to the General Council of the Judiciary, Spain's judicial authority, for the "inattention and unjustified and repeated delay" in the processing of appeals linked to the amnesty law.

The complaint covers not only the case of Puigdemont but also that of exiled former minister, Toni Comín.

In the letter of complaint, the lawyer argues that the magistrate has "repeatedly breached" the legal term provided for in the Criminal Procedure Law for the resolution of appeals for reform. Boye states that the writings should have been resolved during the first fortnight of July.

Boye recalls that on July 1, the judge declared that misuse of funds was "inapplicable" for the amnesty, and that on July 8 and 9, the defense filed several appeals.

Llarena has not resolved the appeals presented by the state attorney and the prosecutor's office, both in support of applying the amnesty.