In Spain, a court decision unfavorable to Puigdemont triggers a controversy

The rejection of an appeal by Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont against the arrest warrant issued against him, even though the formation of a new government depends on him, has sparked controversy in Spain.

The judgment of the Constitutional Court (the highest judicial institution in the country) comes as the outgoing Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, must obtain the support of the seven deputies of Mr. Puigdemont’s party, elected on July 23, in order to be able to be renewed in office by the new assembly, which will meet for the first time on Wednesday August 16.

The “holiday room” of the Constitutional Court, made up of three magistrates on duty during the summer to expedite current affairs, declared inadmissible on Wednesday the appeal filed by Mr. Puigdemont’s lawyers against this arrest warrant, confirmed Thursday, August 10 at Agence France-Presse a spokesman for the judicial institution.

Mr. Puigdemont has lived in exile in Belgium since the failed attempt at secession from Spain and a self-determination referendum deemed illegal, organized in 2017 by the regional government of Catalonia, which he led at the time.

The decision of the three magistrates, taken in the middle of the summer, almost on the sly, only a few days after the filing of the appeal, stunned the political class and the legal circles because of its extremely rare nature. Indeed, since 2017, all appeals related to the attempted secession of Catalonia have been declared admissible by the Constitutional Court, which then examined them in plenary session. So much so that the prosecution of this same Constitutional Court decided to appeal this judgment.

“A state strategy against independence”

Mr. Puigdemont’s lawyer, Gonzalo Boyé, joked about the speed of the decision. “You cannot say that the [Tribunal] constitutional does not work (…). We filed the appeal on July 31, and it’s already resolved.”he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Laura Borras, one of the leaders of Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), the independence party of Mr. Puigdemont, denounced on X a decision taken “thinking about the investiture” of the next head of government. She was referring to the paradoxical situation resulting from the legislative elections of July 23: Mr. Sanchez, whose Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) came second, with 121 seats, behind the Popular Party (PP, conservatives) and its 137 seats, has, despite everything, chances of gathering the necessary support to be invested head of government thanks to the game of alliances.

But, for that, it will imperatively have to obtain not neutrality, but a favorable vote of JxCat, which requires in return a referendum of self-determination and the amnesty of all the Catalans condemned for the attempted secession. The judgment is therefore not, a priori, good news for Mr. Sanchez.

The general secretary of JxCat, Jordi Turull, thus saw in the decision of the Constitutional Court a new proof that there was “a state strategy against separatism”. “And the strategy does not close during the holidays”he added.

The Socialist Party and the People’s Party refrained from commenting, but left-wing circles note that, of the three magistrates making up the “holiday room” of the Constitutional Court, the two who took the decision to reject them are clearly identified as conservatives, the third magistrate having opposed it.