Madrid:Spain's Supreme Court has provisionally lifted the arrest warrant for Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, which allows him to potentially return to Spain nearly nine years after leaving the country following a failed bid for independence.
According to Anadolu Agency, Judge Pablo Llarena ordered the withdrawal of domestic arrest warrants against Puigdemont and former Catalan ministers Antoni Comin and Lluis Puig. This decision follows a Constitutional Court ruling that upheld an appeal by former Catalan minister Dolors Bassa regarding the application of Spain's amnesty law to her embezzlement conviction.
While the full judgment is still pending, Judge Llarena indicated that the similarities between the cases justified lifting the warrants while further implications were examined. He noted that maintaining the warrants could lead to unjustified detentions.
Puigdemont, who was at the helm of Catalonia's regional government during the 2017 independence referendum, left Spain for Belgium in October 2017 to avoid prosecution. Although he briefly returned to Barcelona in August 2024 to address supporters, he managed to evade arrest once again.
The amnesty law, approved in 2024, resulted from an agreement between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists and Puigdemont's Junts party, which had supported Sanchez's government following the 2023 elections. However, the Supreme Court had previously refused to apply this law to Puigdemont's embezzlement charge, keeping the arrest warrant active.
This latest decision comes amid tensions between Junts and the government, especially after Sanchez scheduled an early general election for November 29. Last week, Junts joined opposition parties in rejecting government housing decrees, leading to a parliamentary defeat that contributed to Sanchez's decision to seek a broader mandate.
Prime Minister Sanchez welcomed the lifting of the arrest warrant, expressing hope that it would help Catalan society to progress. Puigdemont and the main opposition parties have not yet commented on the ruling.