The Prosecutor's Office supports Borràs's suspension from prison while awaiting a decision on the pardon.
The former speaker of the Catalan Parliament was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for the case of the Catalan Letters Institution.
BarcelonaThe Public Prosecutor's Office supports the suspension of the prison sentence of former Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Laura Borràs, while the pardon petition filed by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) is processed. The former president of Junts was also sentenced to four and a half years in prison for contract splitting while she was president of the Institution of Catalan Letters (ILC). In a statement, the Public Prosecutor's Office states: "The Public Prosecutor's Office, in order to avoid possible harm to the convicted person in the event of a favorable resolution to the pardon petition, does not oppose the suspension of the imposed prison sentence." In this regard, the Public Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that this suspension must be linked to the TSJC submitting the pardon petition to the Spanish government. The pardon measure would annul the prison sentence, but not the disqualification and fine.
The Public Prosecutor's Office thus supports: the request made by Borràs's own defense A few days ago, he asked the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJC) to suspend the sentence until the Spanish government ruled on the pardon. Borràs's lawyers asked the court, now that the sentence was final, to submit the proposal for a partial pardon to the Spanish government before taking "any other measure." After the Supreme Court upheld the sentence, the TSJC asked the parties how they considered the resolution should be implemented. Therefore, Borràs's defense team requested the pardon included in the same sentence. However, Borràs's request marked a change from what he had previously stated publicly, as he had previously refused to request this pardon.
In March 2023, Borràs was convicted of crimes of prevarication and falsification of documents. to a sentence of four and a half years in prison and 13 years of disqualification from holding office, in addition to a fine of 36,000 euros. The Supreme Court ruled out Borràs's eligibility for the amnesty he requested, arguing that this law does not apply to corruption crimes unrelated to the case. The pardon proposed by the TSJC was partial and meant Borràs's prison sentence would not exceed two years, which would prevent him from having to go to prison. This pardon would apply to the sentence associated with the continuing crime of document falsification, but not to the four-year disqualification for that same crime or to the conviction for malfeasance, which carries a further nine-year disqualification.
The other two convicted
Regarding the other two convicted in the ILC case, the Prosecutor's Office is requesting that the two-year prison sentence imposed by the High Court of Justice (TSJC) on computer scientist Isaías Herrero be replaced with community service. The Public Prosecutor's Office is taking into account the "cooperation and repentance" the convicted man showed at trial and also his attesting that he has overcome his drug addiction. In the case of Andreu Pujol, another computer scientist who helped Herrero submit false budgets and invoices, the Prosecutor's Office is also requesting a suspension of his prison sentence—he was sentenced to one year and two months—and supports extending the deadlines for paying the €2,250 fine because Pujol's company has been dissolved.
