The Court of Auditors avoids applying the amnesty for the time being to the thirty former senior officials of the Generalitat Government, including former presidents Artur Mas and Carles Puigdemont, for the expenses of the procés.
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After last week’s ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) endorsing criminal oblivion, the Second Department of Prosecution of the auditing body has lifted the suspension of the procedure for the expenses of the procés that it ordered when it referred the preliminary questions to Luxembourg that motivated the European justice ruling.
In an order issued this Monday, the Court gives the parties ten days to submit their allegations following the CJEU ruling and to “provide the documentation they consider relevant regarding the origin of the funds used to make the expenses subject to the procedure,” according to a statement.
The Court of Auditors emphasizes that the European ruling does not oppose the amnesty when “the acts subject to the procedure refer to funds that do not come from the European Union budget nor are intended for it.” Hence, the parties are asked for documentation to prove the origin of the funds and the money that motivated the case, which was for the expenses of the procés and the 1-O and for the Generalitat’s external action. “Once this procedure is completed, the process will continue in accordance with the law,” concludes the Court of Auditors’ statement.
In any case, the Luxembourg ruling also made it clear that the expenses of 1-O did not affect the financial interests of the European Union and that if a case falls within the scope defined by the Amnesty law, what corresponds is to issue a resolution of “extinction of liability” without “assessing the allegations and exculpatory evidence.” In the preliminary questions, the Court of Auditors asked Luxembourg whether European funds were affected in any way and if so, whether the amnesty would affect Community law, in which case it would be contrary to a higher norm. The CJEU replied no.
Societat Civil Catalana claims 5.3 million euros from the pro-independence leaders, which the prosecution later reduced to 3 million euros, although the public ministry ended up supporting the application of the amnesty.
The Court of Auditors’ statement also highlights that the Luxembourg judges rejected “the defendants’ allegations questioning the independence and impartiality of the Court of Auditors.”
In the case, beyond Mas and Puigdemont, several former ministers are indicted, such as Oriol Junqueras, who is president of Esquerra, Jordi Turull, secretary general of Junts, Raül Romeva, Toni Comín, or Lluís Puig, among others.
