Spain's Supreme Court opens criminal proceedings against Carles Puigdemont for terrorism

Spain's Supreme Court has opened criminal proceedings against former Catalan president Carles Puigdmont and former MP Ruben Wagensberg for terrorism. 

The investigation is related to their involvement with pro-independence protest group Tsunami Democràtic, which was especially active in 2019 when the organizers of the 2017 independence referendum were given prison sentences, sparking widespread protests in Catalonia. 

The Supreme Court unanimously agreed on Thursday to open criminal proceedings, acting on a request from Judge Manuel García-Castellón of Spain's National Court, who had asked the higher court to take on the case he was overseeing. 

Public Prosecutors at the Supreme Court concluded last week that there was no cause to investigate Puigdemont for terrorism and requested that the case be shelved, but the Supreme Court judges disagreed and have appointed Judge Susana Polo to lead the investigation. 

The judges consider it "necessary and pertinent" that Puigdemont and Wagensberg be investigated by the Supreme Court in particular because they both held public office. 

The court ruled out taking on the case of the other 10 people under investigation in the National Court as they haven't held office. 

From crimes of injury to terrorism 

According to the Supreme Court, “there is no doubt” that the actions attributed to the leaders of Tsunami Democràtic constitute crimes ranging from injuries to terrorism, the latter being mentioned a total of 35 times in the court documents. 

In addition, the judges argue that the demonstrations at the Barcelona airport constitute the crime of “unlawful restraint” and that the protests “disrupted the international air services, airport services, and air traffic” to create “a situation of absolute chaos and violence.” 

The document also adds crimes against law enforcement, as demonstrators “used dangerous instruments as and devices with similar destructive potential as explosives” such as “fire extinguishers, glass, metal trolleys, which they threw at law enforcement agents.”

Public prosecution's view 

The decision to open criminal proceedings is at odds with the final report from the Supreme Court's deputy prosecutor, which said: "At this moment in the process, there are no indications that allow us to say that Carles Puigdemont participated in the founding of Tsunami Democràtic, or planning its actions. The investigating judge [García-Castellón] is limited to making conjectures without a factual basis."  

"Detailed examination of the evidence supplied by the investigating judge reveals that, in reality, we are dealing with mere conjectures or suspicions, which do not allow any criminal act to be attributed to Carles Puigdemont."   

"None of the facts provided" allow us to "reasonably" infer that the former Catalan president participated in Tsunami Democràtic. "It seems, on the contrary, that they rule this out," the report said.

In the case of Wagensberg, who "temporarily" moved to Switzerland in January, the deputy prosecutor agreed that he was "consulted" on issues such as publicity statements and using social networks to help launch the pro-independence activist movement.  

This does not mean, however, that he was at the top of the organization, as some police sources indicated, the deputy prosecutor said. 

Tsunami Democràtic and the amnesty

Tsunami Democràtic organized protests in 2019 after the imprisonment of pro-independence leaders who organized the 2017 referendum. Actions included the blockade of the AP-7 highway near France and the attempt to shut down Barcelona Airport. 

The case of Tsunami Democràtic has featured prominently in discussions around the approval of the amnesty law, which aims to pardon those involved in the Catalan independence movement. 

Puigdemont's party Junts want to modify the draft law to ensure that those accused in the protests of Tsunami Democràtic, the Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), and in the Volhov case, are protected by the law. 

To do so, they say, the law must remove any reference to terrorism as an exception to its application. But the Socialists are concerned that if they do, the law could get stuck in Spain's Constitutional Court and even be declared unconstitutional.