Spanish judge lifts arrest warrant for exiled Catalan separatist leader
A Spanish judge on Tuesday lifted an arrest warrant for exiled Catalan former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, paving the way for his return to Spain ahead of a general election in November.
Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena made the move after Spain’s Constitutional Court backed extending a 2024 amnesty law to include the crime of embezzlement.
The law was aimed at easing tensions in the wealthy northeastern region following its failed 2017 independence bid, Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
Around 400 people involved in the independence push have benefited from the amnesty, but Puigdemont, who headed Catalonia’s regional government when it held a banned independence referendum and attempted to secede from Spain, has been excluded.
He was accused of using public funds to organise the referendum, which the courts had said amounted to embezzlement.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium to avoid arrest after the referendum and remained the subject of an arrest warrant.
Spain’s Supreme Court initially ruled that the amnesty law did not apply to those, including Puigdemont, investigated for embezzlement.
The amnesty law was passed to secure the backing of Catalan separatist parties, whose support allowed Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to remain in power after a 2023 election produced no clear majority.
Puigdemont’s Junts party later withdrew support for the government, accusing Sánchez of failing to fulfil commitments, including the amnesty for its leader.
Junts on Friday voted against housing relief measures proposed by Sánchez’s minority government amid nationwide protests.
The defeat of the measures led Sánchez on Monday to call a snap election on November 29th.
