The leadership of Junts per Catalunya has demanded this Thursday that the Constitutional Court address the appeals for protection of the independence leaders that have been on its table for a year and resolve them “before going on vacation” following the endorsement by the European justice of the Amnesty law.
The secretary general of JxCat, Jordi Turull, demanded at a press conference alongside lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who defends former president Carles Puigdemont, that the guarantees body issue its ruling now because it affects the “fundamental rights” of the expatriated leaders or those who are disqualified, among others. “Today Europe says that the exiles should already be here,” Turull argued. “Don’t go on vacation, there are people whose fundamental rights are being violated,” the post-convergent leader urged the Constitutional magistrates, who plan to resolve the appeals in autumn, after the holiday break.
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Boye, in turn, pointed out that the Constitutional Court “is already late in resolving this” and stated that “from today the Supreme Court is in a position to act even ex officio,” as was done in the past with the Parot doctrine, when hundreds of ETA prisoners and others, some of them dangerous, were released in compliance with a European ruling. “There is no need to wait for anything, the ruling says so” of the CJEU, Boye emphasized. “The ball is no longer in our court,” added the criminal lawyer when asked if he planned to file new appeals. Furthermore, he suggested that if the guarantees body has not resolved the appeals, it is for political reasons.
The lawyer was referring to paragraph 119 of the ruling that responds to the preliminary questions from the Court of Auditors. “In this context, the obligation of national judicial bodies to issue a resolution extinguishing liability without assessing the allegations and exculpatory evidence is inherent to the very principle of amnesty,” Boye read.
Likewise, both Turull and the lawyer have claimed the fact that the JxCat group in Congress opposed the first version of the law, in January 2024, although that cost them much criticism, as they recalled. “We were told everything on January 30, 2024. [The CJEU] has given us the best vindication, black on white, we were right,” Boye assured in this regard. “The no to the January 2024 text is in today’s ruling. Not just any amnesty law was valid, it had to be one that was well done,” the criminal lawyer argued at another point, who wanted to take a jab at the leader of Esquerra in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, at the end of the press conference: “Legislating is not being funny on Twitter.”
Read more What is Puigdemont’s judicial path after the European court’s endorsement of the amnesty?
In his appearance, Turull also pointed out that the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is a “total amendment” to Manuel Marchena and Pablo Llarena, the Supreme Court judges who instructed and presided over the procés trial, respectively, whom the post-convergent leader described as “justice warriors with robes” for refusing to apply criminal oblivion.
Despite the joy over the favorable ruling, Junts are aware that seeing the effects will take time and have also wanted to make clear that in the face of the discourse made by the socialists, with this ruling “the page is not turned” but rather “momentum is gained.” In fact, they recalled that the current president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, although he celebrated the endorsement of the law today, assured during the 2023 election campaign that there would be no amnesty.
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That same Thursday morning, the permanent leadership of the party, Puigdemont’s trusted circle in the organization’s engine room, met at the party headquarters with the former president, who connected remotely. Boye also participated in that meeting, providing the leaders with the keys to the ruling. The formation appeared with the slogan “We have won in Europe” as a backdrop.
Turull and Boye were accompanied at the Junts headquarters by the deputy to the presidency, Albert Batet, vice presidents Miriam Nogueras, Mònica Sales, Antoni Castellà and Josep Rius, the president of the group in the Senate, Eduard Pujol, the Congress deputies Josep Pagés and Pilar Calvo, the secretary of municipal policy, Joan Ramon Casals, the number three on the list for the European elections, Aleix Sarri, the secretary of organization, Judith Toronjo, and the Parliament deputy Anna Navarro.
Read more The CJEU endorses the amnesty law because it served for “reconciliation”
