Confusion in the Constitutional Court over Puigdemont's delays in the amnesty

MadridLess than 24 hours after the Constitutional Court (CC) was scheduled to take the first step in examining Carles Puigdemont's appeal against the Supreme Court's failure to apply the amnesty, the former president's defense team made a move that, in practice, meant delaying the procedure. recusal of three conservative judges The rulings—José María Macías, Enrique Arnaldo, and Concepción Espejel—automatically halted the processing of the appeal for protection, as happened this Tuesday in the plenary session of the Constitutional Court. Now the judicial body must consider whether to remove these judges, which could take at least a month. After that, it can consider lifting the arrest warrant and whether the amnesty is applicable in their case for the crime of embezzlement.

"Do you want to delay the processing for some political reason? If the sentence isn't issued until next year, it will be your responsibility," emphasizes a Constitutional Court source consulted by ARA. "The recusal has a basis that has already been rejected on other occasions. The only thing that is evident is that it delays the decision-making time. I am unable to find a tactical basis for it from the defense's perspective," adds another. "It is suicidal procedural behavior and contrary to your political interests," adds another member of the Constitutional Court. The Spanish government also claims to be surprised by Puigdemont's move and calls it "strange."

A political negotiation?

The arguments of lawyer Gonzalo Boye in the challenges against Espejel and Arnaldo are the same ones that the Constitutional Court had already unanimously rejected in 2021, so he could have known from the outset that they would have no effect. What, then, motivates this move? Is there some political negotiation behind it? Is it an attempt to buy time to pressure the Constitutional Court into granting him the precautionary measure of lifting the arrest warrant?

"The delay caused by the appellant himself will never influence the Constitutional Court's judgment. If it considers that the precautionary measures are not admissible because they anticipate the final outcome of the appeal for protection, the decision will not change as a result of delaying tactics," the Constitutional Court states. They add: "I don't believe the PSOE has any interest in delaying it or influence the decisions Puigdemont makes in his appeal." There is confusion within the guarantees body over a move that breaks the deadlines that pointed to a ruling endorsing Puigdemont's amnesty before the end of the year, something Pedro Sánchez was probably also working on.