The Japan Times - Exiled Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont cleared to return to Spain

Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena made the move after Spain's Constitutional Court backed extending a 2024 amnesty law to include the crime of embezzlement.

The law was aimed at easing tensions in the wealthy northeastern region following its failed 2017 independence bid, Spain's worst political crisis in decades.

Around 400 people involved in the independence push have benefited from the amnesty, but Puigdemont, who headed Catalonia's regional government when it held a banned independence referendum and attempted to secede from Spain, had been excluded.

Puigdemont was accused of using public funds to organise the referendum, which the courts had said amounted to embezzlement.

He fled to Belgium in 2017 to avoid detention after the referendum and remained the subject of an arrest warrant.

Spain's Supreme Court initially ruled that the amnesty law did not apply to those, including Puigdemont, investigated for embezzlement.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed the lifting of the warrant, saying it would allow Catalonia to "look to the future".

"We should celebrate that this also helps Catalan society, as it has been demanding throughout this time," he added at a Madrid news conference.

- Divisive law -

Puigdemont briefly returned to Barcelona in August 2024 after almost seven years in exile, appearing before thousands of supporters and vowing to continue the fight for Catalan independence.

He then disappeared before the regional parliament's vote to install Socialist Salvador Illa as Catalonia's leader, evading a police operation to arrest him before returning to Belgium.

The amnesty law was passed to secure the backing of Catalan separatist parties, whose support allowed Sanchez to remain in power after a 2023 election produced no clear majority.

Spain's right fiercely opposed the amnesty law, with the mainstream conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox arguing it undermined the rule of law.

The two parties frequently accused Sanchez of trading political support for the votes of Catalan separatists and staged large protests against the amnesty law.

Puigdemont's Junts party later withdrew support for the government, accusing Sanchez of failing to fulfil commitments, including the amnesty for its leader.

Junts on Friday voted against housing relief measures proposed by Sanchez's minority government amid nationwide protests. The party's seven seats were key for passage of the decrees.

The defeat of the measures led Sanchez on Monday to call a snap vote for November 29. The next general election was due by August 2027.

Since Puigdemont fled, Junts has seen its support decline as the Catalan independence movement has lost momentum and a new far-right separatist party, Alianca Catalana, has emerged as a rival.

T.Sasaki--JT