Spain's top court upholds amnesty law for Catalan separatists
By Joan Faus
BARCELONA (Reuters) -Spain's Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld core elements of a disputed amnesty law enacted by the Socialist government after Catalonia's failed 2017 secession bid, under which more than 300 people have been pardoned.
"This is magnificent news for Spain," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters in Brussels. He reiterated his view that the amnesty served "to guarantee Spain's unity as well as our development and prosperity and coexistence between citizens and regions".
The amnesty was agreed in 2023 between Sanchez's Socialist Party and two Catalan separatist parties in exchange for their support of his minority coalition in a parliamentary vote that allowed him to stay on as prime minister.
The Constitutional Court's ruling offers some relief for Sanchez while allegations of corruption involving senior officials ensnarl his Socialist Party.
"Amnesty is not banned by the Constitution, and its adoption, when it responds to an exceptional situation and a legitimate public interest, may be constitutionally admissible," ruled the court, where a majority of judges had been nominated by the Socialists.
The conservative opposition has argued the legislation is unconstitutional and was passed solely as a Socialist manoeuvre to stay in power.
The top court ruling, which stems from an appeal lodged by the conservative People's Party, does not directly benefit former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who lives in self-imposed exile in Belgium.
The judge handling Puigdemont's case has said the amnesty does not apply to him as he is also being sued for embezzlement, an accusation he denies.
Puigdemont has appealed the judge's decision, but the Constitutional Court will not rule on the matter until later this year or next, according to a court spokesperson.
Puigdemont was Catalonia's head of government in 2017 when the region unilaterally declared independence from Spain, prompting Madrid to impose direct control.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Democrats urge spiking of Trump watchdog nominee who would ‘traumatize' workforce
Two Democratic committee leaders are urging the Senate to reject the nomination of Paul Ingrassia to lead a top whistleblower office, calling him 'unfit' for the role and arguing he would help the Trump administration 'traumatize the federal workforce and consolidate unchecked power.' Ingrassia, a former podcast host, was nominated last month to lead the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC). He has come under fire for a series of controversial remarks about Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his praise for other right-wing figures. OSC is a unique office within government, one with a dual mission to both enforce the electioneering prohibitions of the Hatch Act and to protect federal employees — fighting unlawful firings and serving as an outlet for whistleblowers. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, said Ingrassia would not tackle either mission 'without fear or favor.' '[OSC] is an independent guardian of accountability within the executive branch. Mr. Ingrassia's loyalty to Donald Trump over the Constitution, his calls for imposing martial law and celebrating violent January 6th insurrectionists, and his close associations with antisemitic extremists all make it clear that he lacks the temperament, experience, and fundamental constitutional fidelity required to lead this office,' Garcia and Raskin, the top Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, wrote in the letter. 'He is not simply unqualified — his confirmation would pose a direct threat to federal whistleblowers, the credibility of the OSC, and the integrity of our oversight institutions.' Ingrassia was previously a writer for the Daily Caller and hosted the podcast Right On Point. He is also an attorney and served on the legal team representing self-described misogynist Andrew Tate. Ingrassia has called Tate, who has been charged with human trafficking in Romania as well as rape in the United Kingdom, the 'embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence.' In 2020, he said it was 'time for @realDonaldTrump to declare martial law and secure his re-election.' He also said in December that Trump should 'offer reparations to the tune of $1 million per family (at least)' for Jan. 6 defendants. The letter notes that Ingrassia graduated law school three years ago and describes him as being fired from a job at the Justice Department he had at the start of the Trump administration. Various outlets have reported Ingrassia walked the halls of DOJ telling people he was the 'eyes and ears' of the White House and clashed with leadership as he pushed to hire those with 'exceptional loyalty' to Trump. Garcia and Raskin noted numerous Trump officials were cited for Hatch Act violations during Trump's first term. 'It is hard to imagine a nominee less likely to enforce the Hatch Act in a fair and even-handed way if an investigation implicated anyone close to the Trump Administration,' they wrote. The lawmakers also expressed fear for whistleblowers, who often report matters to OSC if they fear they will face retribution at their own agencies. 'When whistleblowers come forward, they are speaking truth to power. They do so at great personal risk to bring transparency where secrecy and misconduct might otherwise prevail. Yet Mr. Ingrassia has time and again made clear that he is blindly loyal to the President—a view that is utterly disqualifying for any position of public trust, but particularly one charged with defending the rights of whistleblowers,' they wrote. The White House defended their selection in a Thursday statement. 'Paul Ingrassia is a respected attorney who has served President Trump exceptionally well and will continue to do so as the next head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. The eleventh-hour smear campaign will not deter the President from supporting this nomination, and the administration continues to have full confidence in his ability to advance the President's agenda,' said White House spokesman Harrison Fields. Trump fired previous special counsel Hampton Dellinger, despite his Senate confirmation to a five-year term, amid his battle to restore fired federal workers to their posts after the Trump administration booted federal workers still in their probationary period. Dellinger, who sued to keep this job, was initially reinstated to his post, but ended his legal battle after an appeals court declined to keep him in his role while the case continued. His departure also meant the end of the OSC's battle to protect fired probationary workers, and the office has since shifted its position on the matter. The Thursday letter is the first from Garcia since his election to serve as the ranking member of the Oversight Committee. A hearing date for Ingrassia has not yet been set by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, but the lawmakers encouraged the panel to reject his nomination. 'President Trump wants to appoint Mr. Ingrassia because he knows that this nominee will treat treasonous, secessionist rhetoric as acceptable political discourse; reward extremism instead of condemning it; and work to tear down, not build up, the democratic institutions we have sworn to protect,' the two lawmakers wrote. 'The ultimate victims of Mr. Ingrassia's installation as special counsel would be the brave civil servant whistleblowers, the credibility of the federal workforce and civil servants, and the American people they serve.'
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Spain's leader calls US levies ‘doubly unfair' in trade spat
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defended his decision to break with his NATO allies over increases in military spending and called President Donald Trump's tariffs on Spain "doubly unfair." "Europe and the world have been suffering from a trade war, from tariff measures that we have considered - at least in Spain - from the first minute as unfair and also unilateral," Sanchez told reporters in Brussels Thursday. "In the case of Spain, they're doubly unfair." Sanchez pointed out that Spain has a trade deficit with the U.S. - whereas it's the trade surpluses that many other countries have with the U.S. that have driven Trump's tariff policy. Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed at a summit Wednesday to raise their spending on defense to 5% of GDP. Sanchez, however, has refused to meet the new target, saying Spain will only raise its defense expenditure to 2.1%, "nothing more, nothing less." Sanchez has said Spain will meet the alliance's ambitious new weapons and troop targets, but without committing to the price tag that NATO had attached to it. Sanchez has drawn sharp criticism from fellow NATO members. Trump criticized Sanchez after the summit in the Hague after the rest of the alliance's members agreed to the new spending target. "You're the only country that is not paying. I don't know what the problem is," Trump said. "We'll make it up. You know, we're going to do, we're negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We're going to make them pay twice as much. And I'm actually serious about that." Spain is part of the European Union, which is racing to clinch a trade deal with Washington before tariffs on nearly all its exports to the U.S. jump to 50% on July 9. The European Commission, the executive arm of the E.U., handles trade matters for the 27-member bloc - individual member states don't negotiate trade deals on their own. The Spanish economy is growing more than its biggest euro-area partners. Its GDP is expected to expand by 2.4% this year compared to 0.9% for the euro area, according to the Bank of Spain and ECB forecasts. Fueled by tourism, employment has hit record highs not seen since before the financial crisis. Politically, Sanchez is in one of the most difficult moments of his tenure as prime minister. He runs a minority government that has been unable to pass a budget since the end of 2022 and struggles to garner parliamentary support for key laws in parliament. Two weeks ago, a corruption scandal involving his Socialist party broke out adding to ongoing court cases with his former advisers and members of his own family. Sanchez has acknowledged his weakness in parliament, saying that if he was to call an election he wouldn't get enough support to stay in government and has said he plans to finish his term, due to end in 2027, and run again for reelection. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
How the historic fight for marriage equality came together in Tennessee 10 years ago
"It was a surreal experience," said Bill Harbison, one of the Nashville lawyers in the Supreme Court case. The world was swirling around Thomas Kostura 10 years ago. Kostura, whose New York marriage had not been recognized when his husband was stationed in Tennessee, was in the middle of the most important U.S. Supreme Court case for gay rights in the country's history. 'It was basically this hurricane going on around us, and we were kind of in the eye of the storm,' he said. 'It was a whirlwind.' On June 26, 2015, the nation's highest court legalized marriage equality nationwide, proclaiming that the Constitution grants same-sex couples the right to marry. Tennessee was at the center of it all. How Tennessee wound up in the fight for gay marriage The landmark case featured plaintiffs from four different states, one of which was Tennessee. The success of Tennessee's case came from strategy and a little luck. Abby Rubenfeld, a prolific civil rights attorney in Nashville who has fought for the LGBTQ+ community for decades, was the architect of the case. Look back at celebrations: 10 years since Obergefell v. Hodges granted same-sex marriage It started after another state passed a law protecting marriage equality, Rubenfeld said. She remembers a reporter calling to ask if there would be a challenge to Tennessee's law restricting marriage to a man and a woman. Without thinking much of it, Rubenfeld said, 'Hell yes!' University of Tennessee College of Law professor Regina Hillman saw the story. Hillman called Rubenfeld and said she wanted in, and the case was in motion. They needed a few things. One was an advocacy organization's backing. Rubenfeld, a member of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, secured its support. They also needed the resources of a big law firm. In Knoxville, a boyfriend of one of Hillman's students overheard her discussing with Rubenfeld who might be a good fit. The young man said, "My dad will do it," Rubenfeld said. 'And we were like, 'Shut up,'' Rubenfeld said. 'Then finally I was like, 'Who's your dad?'" Bill Harbison, he said. 'Oh my God! Are you kidding?' Rubenfeld remembers saying. "Because at the time, Bill was president-elect of the Tennessee Bar Association, he was at a well-respected firm. He was kind of perfect." 'Necessary for me to step up' The lawyers put out advertisements with LGBTQ+ rights groups to find plaintiffs and ended up with three couples. Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo, whose marriage in San Francisco was not recognized in Nashville, was one of them. Mansell said he just wanted the law to treat him as it treated his straight family members and 'felt that it was necessary for me to step up.' 'I was very angry that my marriage was not recognized in all states,' Mansell said. Kostura and his husband, Ijpe Dekoe, were with a group of friends at dinner in Memphis when they first considered joining. Their friends pitched them the idea. 'It takes like 10 years to get to the Supreme Court,' Kostura remembers thinking. Why not? He knew other cases for marriage equality were happening around the country. 'Someone's going to get there before us,' he thought. Rubenfeld said the key plaintiffs were Sophia Jesty and Valeria Tanco, a lesbian couple who worked at the University of Tennessee veterinary school. One of them was pregnant, and they wanted to get both their names on the birth certificate. They sued in October 2013 and needed a decision quickly. The baby was due in March. Case works its way to Supreme Court Judge Aleta Trauger ruled in their favor a day before the baby was due, Rubenfeld said. The state of Tennessee appealed the decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case was combined with others from Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. This time, the states won. Here's a fact about lawyers: They like to win cases. But here's another fact: sometimes you've got to lose now to win later. 'When we lost, everybody in the gay rights movement like rejoiced,' Rubenfeld said. Until then, every circuit court that had taken up a marriage equality case had decided in its favor. Without a loss, the Supreme Court probably wouldn't have felt it necessary to rule, Rubenfeld said. The plaintiffs appealed. When the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, Harbison immediately called Rubenfeld. 'It was almost a surreal experience,' Harbison said. Dig deeper: He was at the center of a Supreme Court case that changed gay marriage. Now, he's worried. When the case was argued at the Supreme Court, Harbison remembers, Rubenfeld would occasionally remind him of the massive moment they were in the middle of. 'We're making history,' he remembers her saying. 'Representing millions' a burden but reason to stay courageous As the case was growing, so was the burden on its plaintiffs. It had been just 15 months between when the lawsuit was filed in district court and when it was accepted at the Supreme Court. The gravity of the situation caught up to Kostura. 'All of a sudden I realized that I'm representing millions of people,' Kostura said. It was more responsibility than he'd ever had. He remembers being recognized in public for the first time, by a waitress who saw his name on his debit card.. "I hope you guys win," she told him. It made him feel the weight of his role but also gave the courage to get through it, he said. He leaned on his friends — those 'who can make a good martini,' he said — as well as his attorneys. They insulated him from the frenzy that surrounded the case. They were like a 'suit of armor,' he said. Ruling 'hit us in the stomach' Mansell was getting ready for work when he saw the decision on the news. He immediately called out sick. A circus of media attention, interviews and photographs came. He was flown out to the gay pride parade in San Francisco. Kostura was getting a haircut at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. 'I tried not to jump because the barber had the clippers up against my head,' he said. For him and Dekoe, the ruling precipitated an emotional release he had not been fully expecting. To get through it, you have to convince yourself you're going to win, Kostura said, and doing that had taken an emotional toll without him realizing. 'It hit us in the stomach,' he said. Rubenfeld was in the late Judge Phil Smith's courtroom when the decision came down. She went into the jury room with her daughter, then a student at Middle Tennessee State Univerisity, and checked SCOTUSblog. 'I jumped up and hugged her and ran in the courtroom, didn't even look if Judge Smith was on the bench, and just blurted out — 'We won! We won marriage equality!'' Rubenfeld said. 'And people cheered! In Nashville, Tennessee, people clapped and were happy, which meant a lot.' Harbison was walking out of Chancery Court when he ran into a lawyer on the back steps who told him the news. He got together with Rubenfeld and as many people on the legal team they could gather, and got lunch at J. Alexanders, and 'the rest of the day is kind of a blur.' 'We did a lot of drinking that day,' Rubenfeld said, laughing. Couples 'dancing with joy' to marry As others partied, Chris Sanders had his nose in his laptop. The Tennessee Equality Project had organized a massive campaign to see which county clerk's offices were making the changes necessary to marry same sex couples. They had volunteers and staff in every courthouse in the state. 'I was dug in at my laptop hours and hours and hours while people were scurrying around clerk's offices in East, West and Middle Tennessee,' Sanders said. 'And I will never forget getting those reports — just a constant screen, county by county by county.' In Davidson County, one of the quickest in the state, the first same-sex couple married was Nikki Von Haeger and her then-fiancée. They didn't plan to be. Here's how she remembers the decision to get married that morning going: 'Do you want to just, should we go? Should we just go down to the courthouse?' she remembers asking her fiancée. They had been engaged for about a year at that point and following the case on SCOTUSblog. She expected a line down the street, but they happened to be the first ones out. Megan Barry, then a mayoral candidate, was down there ready to officiate anyone who walked through the courthouse doors. 'She married us, and it was the strangest, one of the strangest moments of my life, because afterward, we went and got barbecue and did laundry,' Von Haeger said. 'And then all of a sudden it was blowing up everywhere.' Dozens of other same-sex couples also came to the courthouse that day. 'What struck me so much was just the volume of people who showed up, who were finally able to avail themselves of this fundamental right that had been denied,' Barry said. 'They were practically dancing with joy and happiness.' Von Haeger and her ex-wife have since divorced, but the day remains a good memory, she said. 'And not just for marrying somebody that I was in love with,' she said. 'But also having the choice and the freedom to do so, which … for a while there I didn't think was going to happen.' 'We made it through that together' Ten years after the ruling, all the Tennessee plaintiffs in the case have moved away. Mansell and Espejo live in Southern California, where Mansell works as a conflicts analyst for a law firm. Kostura, an operations manager for an art company, lives in Washington, D.C., with Dekoe, who retired from the military and works in contracting. Both Harbison and Rubenfeld said they consider it the proudest moment of their careers. And for Rubenfeld, who has tirelessly chipped away and struck down laws oppressive to LGBTQ+ people for decades, the decision was especially meaningful. 'I felt like I was channeling all my colleagues from the gay rights movement, especially all the gay male attorneys who passed away during AIDS, because it kind of decimated our ranks of gay and lesbian attorneys in the '80s,' she said. 'I feel like I was channeling all of them, and they were all getting to participate through me."
