The Supreme Court gives five days to political prisoners to make a statement on pardons

BarcelonaThe day after the Madrid elections, the Supreme Court takes the step to finalise its report on pardons for political prisoners. The high court has given a period of five days to the twelve pro-independence leaders condemned for the Catalan independence bid to argue what they consider appropriate in relation to requests for pardon. The Chamber II has dictated 12 orders of similar content, one for each of the ministers, in which it has agreed to give this hearing to the condemned because the request for pardonning them is promoted by third parties and institutions. All of them have a common period of five days to express what they consider "convenient about this petition" and to formulate, if they consider it appropriate, "allegations prior to the preparation" of the report on the pardons. This is the last step before the Supreme Court, as the sentencing tribunal issues its report to the Spanish government, which will ultimately decide whether or not to apply the presidential pardon.

Thus, the pardon folder is getting closer and closer to the Moncloa. Supreme Court sources say that they will not deliver their report to the Spanish government imminently - first they have to wait five days for the political prisoners to pronounce themselves - and at the earliest it will be known whether they are for or against the pardons next week. Apart from the allegations of the former Ministers, the magistrates of the Supreme Court will have to study the reports of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the State Attorney's Office. While the lawyers have avoided expressing themselves for or against the granting of the pardon - although they have highlighted the reparation of the economic damage linked to the crime of embezzlement, once 4.1 million have been deposited to the Court of Auditors -, the public ministry maintains that the condemned have to serve their sentences without "shortcuts".

The ball of the pardons has been in the court of the Spanish government for almost a year and a half, despite the fact that it was not even eight months ago that the Ministry of Justice announced that it had begun to process them. At that time it was already nine months since the first request, which had come from the hand of the lawyer Rafael Jufresa in December 2019 and to which had been added later those of the UGT for Dolors Bassa, that of the former presidents of the Parliament for Carme Forcadell and also that of the Lliga Democràtica. After having received the writings of the prisons, it was only in December that the Supreme Court requested the report from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which a few days later made public its opposition to the pardons.