Supreme Court grants amnesty to independence leaders Junqueras, Turull, Romeva, and Bassa

The Supreme Court has applied the amnesty to former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras and former ministers Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, and Dolors Bassa.

In a court order issued on Tuesday, the independence referendum organizers' case was finally concluded, in accordance with the doctrine established by the Constitutional Court which upheld the application of the amnesty to the charge of misuse of public funds.

In the text, the Supreme Court criticized the “unnecessary grandiloquence” of the Constitutional Court in its ruling on the case. “It reveals a desire to embellish reasoning, which encroaches upon the jurisdictional sphere belonging to the Supreme Court, with expressions intended to mask the extent of this interference,” the Supreme Court text states.

The move lifts the punishment of disqualification from public office imposed on Junqueras, Romeva, Turull, and Bassa, and the four will now be able to run in elections.

However, the case of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is not yet resolved with this news, as his case is being handled separately, having never been put on trial, nor convicted, as he has lived in Belgium for most of the past decade.   

Tuesday's decision only applies to the cases of Junqueras, Turull, Romeva, and Bassa. Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena still has to decide about the case involving Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín, and Lluís Puig.

Judge Llarena will need to issue a concluding order and refer it to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Chamber, which will then formally order the definitive closure of the case against them.

In a document filed this Thursday, Llarena acknowledged that the amnesty must be applied, even though he does not agree with the arguments in the Constitutional Court’s ruling.