Spanish president evades rejecting pardon for jailed leaders

Pedro Sánchez avoided stating whether he would refuse to pardon the prosecuted Catalan leaders if they were sentenced to prison in the upcoming trial.

In a debate in Congress on Wednesday morning, Sánchez did not answer a question posed by the unionist Ciutadans party leader, Albert Rivera, who referred to the pro-independence jailed and exiled officials as “members of a coup d’état.”

Rivera urged him to commit to not pardoning the leaders once they are tried and criticized the meeting between left-wing Podemos leader, Pablo Iglesias, and the jailed Esquerra’s head Oriol Junqueras, two weeks ago in prison. 

Despite being in the opposition, Iglesias had previously agreed on the 2019 Spanish budget with the Socialists and Sánchez; but, for the spending plan to succeed in the Congress, pro-independence parties were - and still are - needed.