Spanish PM guarantees amnesty law covers 'all pro-independence supporters'
Pedro Sánchez backs current wording of bill after Junts voted against it in Congress
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez assured that the current version of the amnesty bill guarantees that "all pro-independence supporters" will benefit from it.
"As everyone knows, Catalan independence is not terrorism. I am convinced that [with this law], and as the courts will ultimately determine, all Catalan pro-independence supporters will be granted amnesty. Because they are not terrorists," he said.
Speaking after the European Council meeting in Brussels, Sánchez responded to Junts, which on Tuesday rejected the bill in the Spanish Congress over concerns that the current version would not benefit their de facto leader, Carles Puigdemont, and others accused.
Junts wants to modify the draft law to ensure that those accused in the protests of Tsunami Democràtic and 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.
After being rejected in the Spanish Congress on Tuesday, the bill will now be renegotiated between Junts and Socialists in the Justice Committee, with the Socialists hoping to bring it back to Congress in two or three weeks.