Llarena leaves Puigdemont's amnesty in Marchena's hands

MadridNine years later, Pablo Llarena has put an end to his participation in the 'Procés' case and has activated the countdown to the total amnesty for Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín, and Lluís Puig. The investigating judge has taken the penultimate step to make it possible by revoking the indictment he issued in 2018, concluding the summary proceedings and referring the case to the Criminal Chamber so that it is Manuel Marchena who dictates the final dismissal of the case. In this way, the judicial persecution of the 1-O at the Supreme Court is one step closer to being buried.

However, Pablo Llarena says goodbye with one last harmless strike. In a brief four-page interlocutory order, the magistrate takes the opportunity to put in writing that “indications of participation” still subsist regarding the three exiles in “organizing and financing with public funds” the October 1st referendum, “ignoring the prohibitions” of the Constitutional Court and the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, which led him to leave them one step away from the defendants' bench in March 2018. The judge recalls that the Government promoted an “action aimed at unilaterally imposing” the independence of Catalonia “outside the constitutional order” and the Statute of Autonomy.

Despite this, he assumes with resignation that now the amnesty and the Constitutional Court “prevent” keeping the prosecution alive. And he takes the opportunity to give an implicit warning in case the independence movement wants to try again: “The impossibility of continuing the criminal prosecution derives neither from a decriminalization of embezzlement and disobedience for the rest of analogous cases that may be committed, nor from the disappearance of the evidence, but from the legislative decision to amnesty the specific investigated conducts,” he justifies. The judge does not refrain from rubbing salt in the wound regarding the division that existed in the Constitutional Court with the ruling on Dolors Bassa's appeal, emphasizing that it was an “interpretation adopted by the majority,” of the seven progressives against the five conservatives, which stipulated what is “the scope attributed” to the pardon of embezzlement.

Toni Comín and Lluís Puig have recently been able to return to Catalonia as free men because, following the Constitutional Court's ruling on the interpretation of embezzlement, Pablo Llarena annulled the arrest warrants against them that had been in effect since November 2017. For this reason, two weeks ago the former Minister of Culture was able to return to Terrassa and took his seat in Parliament, while the former Minister of Health collected his MEP credentials in Madrid and solemnized his return three days later. On the other hand, Carles Puigdemont will complete the end of his exile after the November 29th elections. The step that remains pending is for the Supreme Court to deliver the final blow to the case.

What will happen from now on?

The step taken by Pablo Llarena was essential, but the road to get there still needs to be cleared. What will the schedule be? The forecast is that Manuel Marchena, together with Antonio del Moral and Andrés Martínez Arrieta, the three judges of the 'Procés' trial who remain active, will grant a period of five working days to the parties – the defenses, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney's Office, and Vox as popular prosecution – to pronounce themselves on the application of the amnesty. It is the same procedure he followed a month ago with the four convicted persons. After this, the Criminal Chamber will have to issue an interlocutory order to archive the case. This is what is known as a dismissal of proceedings.

However, there may be one last hurdle. The far-right filed an appeal against the decision of Pablo Llarena to lift the arrest warrants the same day that the Constitutional Court forced the Supreme Court to grant amnesty for the embezzlement. “If the prosecution remains pending, the need to ensure the presence of the accused also persists,” argued the document. Within the high court, it is not clear whether it will be necessary to wait for them to be resolved to put an end to the case. “We have to see it, it's a matter of studying it,” said a weighty voice consulted by ARA a few days ago. Asked by this media outlet, another source warned that there were no precedents for a circumstance like this. On the other hand, sources from Puigdemont's defense are convinced that the amnesty law is clear and believe that Manuel Marchena has no reason to delay it.