Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has challenged a Spanish court’s decision to deny him amnesty, labelling it “absurd” and “irrational.”
Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena ruled on 1 July that the amnesty granted to Catalan separatists by socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did not include the embezzlement charge against Mr Puigdemont.
In an appeal filed on Monday, Puigdemont’s lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, slammed Judge Llarena’s ruling.
“The judge is falsely claiming there was a desire for personal enrichment," Boye said. "Financial interests of the European Union have not been affected in any way.”
The lawyer described Llarena’s decision, also challenged by the public prosecutor, as “absurd, arbitrary, illogical, and irrational.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling came as a shock, as the sharply negotiated amnesty law, intended to help Pedro Sánchez retain power, was expected to benefit in particular Carles Puigdemont, who was hoping for a swift return to Spain.
Wanted for events that occurred in 2017 during a failed bid to declare Catalonia's independence, Puigdemont fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution by Spanish courts, which had imprisoned several other separatist leaders. He is charged with embezzlement, disobedience, and terrorism.
