Skip to content
Search
Close
SHOP
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Commentary
  • Essays
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Tributes
  • Media
Menu
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Commentary
  • Essays
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Tributes
  • Media
  • NEWS

Spain Drops Sedition Charges Against Catalan Separatist Leader

Living in exile in Belgium, Carles Puigdemont continues to elude Spanish justice. He is still wanted for embezzlement and disobedience, which together carry an eight-year prison sentence.
  • Tristan Vanheuckelom
  • — January 15, 2023
Living in exile in Belgium, Carles Puigdemont continues to elude Spanish justice. He is still wanted for embezzlement and disobedience, which together carry an eight-year prison sentence.
  • Tristan Vanheuckelom
  • — January 15, 2023

Three weeks ago, a vote excised the crime of sedition from the Spanish penal code. As a result, separatist leader Carles Puigdemont will avoid punishment for his role in leading Catalonia’s failed attempt at secession in 2017.

On December 22nd, 2022, the new penal code met approval with both chambers of Parliament. The process leading up to the final vote in the Senate had been nothing if not controversial, as was patently obvious in the breakdown of votes. The bill garnered just 140 votes in favor, with 118 senators voting against it.

“The Spanish Parliament has definitively approved the bill for the adaptation of criminal legislation to EU regulations and the reform of crimes against moral integrity, public disorder and smuggling of dual-use weapons,” the Spanish Senate then tweeted.

👉Las Cortes Generales han aprobado definitivamente la proposición de LO para la adaptación de la legislación penal al ordenamiento de la UE y reforma de los delitos contra la integridad moral, desórdenes públicos y contrabando de armas de doble uso.

▶https://t.co/bGEtLFYSzM pic.twitter.com/NPI8TrGA6q

— Senado de España (@Senadoesp) December 22, 2022

Since the reform would be a boon to Catalan independence advocates, a minor crisis erupted within Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist government, which faced criticism from both allies and opposition.

Compelled by the change to the nation’s penal code, which went into effect on Thursday, January 12th, a Spanish Supreme Court judge has dropped sedition charges against Carles Puigdemont, according to a statement issued by the magistrate.

Under the new law, “the facts of the case related to [sedition] are now subsumable in a crime of disobedience,” Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena wrote in the statement. 

As a result, the former president of Catalonia, together with four other Catalan independence leaders, will avoid facing prosecution for sedition. Originally, Puigdemont was facing a maximum of 15 years in prison for the crime. The judge however upheld charges of embezzlement and disobedience, which could result in a sentence of eight years behind bars.

An actual conviction and carrying out of the sentence could prove difficult, however. In the hope of eluding Spanish justice, Puigdemont has relocated to Belgium. 

In his statement, Llarena said that the milder sentence “will be communicate[d] to the executing courts of Belgium and Italy.” Both countries are known to host Catalan nationalists fleeing prosecution. 

The Spanish judge added that he would submit a new extradition request to Belgian authorities so Puigdemont can stand trial for the remaining charges. 

In a Facebook video message released on the same day, Puigdemont responded that he would not surrender to a Spanish judge, even given the now more lenient sentences. 

“I will not support, for my personal benefit, a policy that aims to criminalize the desire of Catalans to live in a free country. I take the risk of fighting to the end to become free,” he concluded.

Tristan Vanheuckelom is a Belgian journalist who writes for The European Conservative. A book and film reviewer for various Dutch-language publications, his other interests include history, political science, and theology.
  • Tags: Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia, crime, independence, sedition, sentence, Separatist, Spain, Trial, Tristan Vanheuckelom

READ NEXT

Germany Considering Withdrawing From Mali Earlier Than Expected

Thomas O'Reilly February 8, 2023

Azeri President Aliyev Pays Official Visit to Budapest

Hélène de Lauzun February 7, 2023

Swedish Migration Agency Forecasts Reduced Influx of Asylum Seekers

Robert Semonsen February 7, 2023

IMPRESSUM

SUBSCRIPTION

LOG IN

PRIVACY POLICY

CONTACT

[email protected]

© The European Conservative 2023

  • Impressum
  • Privacy Policy
  • General Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Made by DIGITALHERO

Issue 25, Winter 2023

  • News
  • Analysis
  • Commentary
  • Essays
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Tributes
  • Media
Menu
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Commentary
  • Essays
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Tributes
  • Media
Search

About

SHOP

JOBS & VACANCIES

Login