Spanish justice this Thursday dropped a sedition charge against former Catalan government president Carles Puigdemont, the protagonist of the 2017 independence attempt, leaving him in “a context close to decriminalization,” according to Spain’s Supreme Court.
Changes in the criminal prosecution of Puigdemont are associated with the entry into force of changes to the Spanish Penal Code, which were protected by the Spanish government and ratified by Parliament at the end of 2022.
Thus, Puigdemont, who lives in Belgium to avoid Spanish justice, is no longer charged with sedition, a crime that led to the imprisonment of nine other supporters of Catalan independence due to Catalonia’s attempt at self-determination in 2017, which included holding a referendum. which was considered illegal by the Constitutional Court and a unilateral declaration of independence in the regional parliament.