“I am convinced that this Amnesty law will come out and that it will be one hundred percent constitutional.” Pedro Sánchez was absolutely certain yesterday, in an interview with La Sexta, that the amnesty for those accused of the process will be approved, despite the misgivings of Junts per Catalunya, which last week stopped the parliamentary processing of the law in Congress .
The President of the Central Government insisted that this proposed law, with the current wording and without further changes, already covers all the alleged crimes that the various judicial investigations attribute to Catalan independence. But Sánchez also opened the door to trying to attract Carles Puigdemont’s training to the agreement with a reform of the Criminal Procedure law, as La Vanguardia advanced on Saturday, to shorten the terms of the judicial investigation.
“We have seen in recent weeks instructions that are being extended and that even the prosecutors themselves have called into question”, acknowledged the head of the Spanish Executive. A reform of the LECrim in this sense, he admitted, would fit “perfectly” into the review already validated in the first decrees of the Central Government to boost the “efficiency” of justice. “There are elements that we can incorporate for improvement and that, obviously, can “resolve some of the doubts that these political formations may have”, he pointed out, with reference to Junts.
Sánchez reiterated that, with the current text of the amnesty, it is “a brave, restorative and constitutional law”. And he took for granted that this will also leave Congress, aside from the new negotiations between the PSOE and Junts in search of an agreement that allows the rule to be voted on again in plenary.
The president rejected modifications to the rule, as proposed by Junts, to extend its effects to all crimes of terrorism or high treason. “We already said no”, he stressed, and recalled that the PSOE already voted on Tuesday against the amendments that were still alive from Junts and ERC.
The president pledged to “continue dialogue” with Puigdemont’s formation to renew this disagreement over the amnesty, with “temperance and firmness”. “We have reached an agreement that is fully constitutional and aligned with European law”, he defended. “Maximum willingness to dialogue, but be aware that we have reached a good agreement. And that it will cover all the assumptions that currently concern the pro-independence movement”, he assured. “Independence is not terrorism”, he reiterated.
Sánchez insisted that he has no intention of introducing further changes to the rule, as Junts claims. “It is a good text”, he alleged. But without closing to the negotiation: “Among all the formations we will have to find a solution so that the Amnesty law goes ahead, which I am convinced will come out”.
The president ruled out as an alternative a reform of the Penal Code to revise the crimes of terrorism, which was one of the paths explored by the PSOE. “This is not in the mind of the Executive”, he concluded. Precisely because, in his opinion, “terrorism is not comparable to independence”. “This is common sense, one thing has nothing to do with the other”, he replied.
“All the assumptions are included in the amnesty, it is fully constitutional and in accordance with European law”, he remarked. And so it must leave Congress.
