Spanish prosecutors rule out terrorism charges for Puigdemont in Tsunami Democràtic case

Spain's public prosecutor ruled out the terrorism charges for former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and Esquerra Republicana secretary general Marta Rovira in the Tsunami Democràtic protest group judicial case. 

The announcement comes a few days after the judge of the Spanish National Court added the two leaders to the investigation. Puigdemont and Rovira have been living in Brussels and Geneva, Switzerland, respectively, since the peak of the independence crisis in 2017. 

The judge is investigating potential crimes of terrorism for actions done by the anonymous protest group. However, the public prosecutor did not believe the events were considered a crime of terrorism, and on Monday, they announced that they were planning to appeal the decision.

Operating through the instant messaging application Telegram, Tsunami Democràtic organized protests such as the blockade of the AP-7 highway near France and the attempt to shut down the Barcelona airport after the sentencing of the referendum organizers in 2019.

The prosecutor does not consider Tsunami Democràtic as a terrorist organization, therefore, they are proposing moving the judicial case to a court in Barcelona rather than Spain's National Court, in charge of trying terrorism cases. 

Regarding the charges Rovira faces, the prosecution considers that "those charges lack criminal basis, regardless of her person or support to the group." 

Meanwhile, Puigdemont cannot be investigated as the "events related to his person are not enough."

In the appeal, the prosecutions do not consider that more than two people took part in criminal acts and that the ones listed, the ones with the highest criminal importance, are the attempt to shut down the Barcelona airport and the blockade of the AP-7 highway. However, in both cases, the prosecution only saw public disorder and the new crime in the penal code after sedition was repealed. 

The existence of Tsunami Democràtic on social media accounts "does not set for itself the existence of a criminal organization," the text reads. 

"It is only a Twitter profile, and during the most developed time, an app designed to access with QR codes that let readers read statements by the group," the prosecution added. 

The ministry also says that they have not been able to identify any organization heads if they exist. On many occasions, what they were able to identify was people backing the movement but not organizers. The text also pointed out that it is not possible to link any deaths, injuries, or damages to those under investigation.