The Catalan independence leader once again faces justice.
Spain's highest judicial body announced Thursday the opening of an investigation for "terrorism" against Carles Puigdemont, who is in the middle of negotiations with the Spanish government on an amnesty law.
The Supreme Court said, in a press release, that it was "competent" to "open an investigation and, if necessary, prosecute the former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont" for "terrorism offenses in relation to the facts covered by the "Investigation into
Democratic Tsunami
".
“Democratic tsunami” is the name of a mysterious platform which called to protest against the sentencing on October 14, 2019 of nine independence leaders to prison for their role in the 2017 secession attempt. Thousands of activists had notably formed the blockade from Barcelona airport that day.
This organization had also been at the origin, among other things, of road cuts in Catalonia in a context of high tensions marked by scenes of urban guerrilla warfare in Barcelona.
Carles Puigdemont suspected of having participated in the “democratic tsunami”
The Supreme Court, which appointed an investigating judge to investigate this case, “has no doubt that the facts of which
Democratic Tsunami
is accused amount to terrorism,” the body continues in its press release.
According to her, “several indications support the participation in the facts of Carles Puigdemont”, who “was informed from the start of the creation of this new group organized with a view to subverting the constitutional order and seriously destabilizing democratic institutions”.
The mateix dia that accuses me of having thrown away the treat of a Rolex of 7,000 €, imputes me as a terrorist.
Crec that I named false that I have a secret account in Panama.
El Màtrix judicial espanyol ha adaptat la maxima del mal periodisme: no deixis que la reality espatlli una bona… https://t.co/BuZ0cpgXI4
— krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) February 29, 2024
In addition to Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium in 2017 to escape Spanish justice, this investigation also targets Rubén Wagensberg, an elected official in the Catalan regional Parliament, who also left Spain recently to avoid prosecution.
In a message published on the social network X, Carles Puigdemont joked about the opening of this investigation.
“I am accused of terrorism on the same day I am accused of having received a Rolex worth 7,000 euros as a gift,” he said, referring to an article published Thursday on a Spanish site.
“All I need is for someone to discover an account in Panama,” he added.
Ongoing negotiations with the government
The Supreme Court's announcement does not suit the Spanish left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, which has been negotiating for weeks with Carles Puigdemont's party, Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), an amnesty law for the separatists involved in the attempted secession of Catalonia in 2017, one of the most serious political crises in the contemporary history of Spain.
This measure was demanded by Junts in exchange for the support of his seven deputies for the reappointment of Mr. Sánchez by Parliament last November for a new four-year term as head of government.
In the absence of an amnesty, Carles Puigdemont would be immediately arrested if returned to Spain.
A first amnesty bill submitted to Parliament was rejected on January 30 due to opposition from Junts deputies, who considered that the text did not go far enough and risked not benefiting all those concerned. , starting with Carles Puigdemont.
The text therefore had to return to the Justice Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to be modified before the deadline of next Wednesday, March 7.
Concretely, Junts wants the law to guarantee the application of amnesty to people accused of “terrorism”, without possible exception, or “treason”, because Carles Puigdemont is also threatened with prosecution for this last offense.
Indeed, a magistrate in Barcelona suspects the separatist of having sought in 2017 to obtain the support of the Kremlin for a possible independence of Catalonia.
This judge assured in January that he had "data" confirming the "close personal relationships" between relatives of the separatist and people occupying at the time "diplomatic functions or (having) links with the Russian secret services".