The decision by Spain's Board of Prosecutors to endorse, even if only by the minimum, that the amnesty for Catalan independence cases be applied to those convicted or accused of the misuse of public funds, including Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras and Jordi Turull, is a victory and, probably, a final service of the prosecutor general of the state, Álvaro García Ortiz. It is true that the result of the vote was very tight - 19 prosecutors in favour and 17 against - and that rarely, in any matter not related to appointments, has the position of the prosecutor general been so questioned. But perhaps, at the same time, there had never been such a divisive position taken against him as that of the prosecutors in the Supreme Court trial of the independence process leaders, Fidel Cadena, Javier Zaragoza, Consuelo Madrigal and Jaime Moreno. Four of the most deeply-rooted of the prosecution establishment in this country, with many years behind them and with prestige that received no end of media and political praise not so many years ago. Without going any further, during the independence process trial itself, a procedure that had a lot of drama and not much justice.
Álvaro García Ortiz took on all of this and did not die in the attempt. He didn't even need to use the golden bullet, which was nothing other than the possibility of asserting his rank to get his way if he had lost the vote in the Board. Now, the place of the four rebel prosecutors will be occupied by his own number two, the lieutenant prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ángeles Sánchez Conde, and the chief prosecutor of the criminal chamber of the Supreme Court, Joaquín Sánchez-Covisa. They will be the prosecutors who will sign the report and defend the position of the public prosecution service before Supreme Court judges Pablo Llarena and Manuel Marchena. Also, with this script change, far-right Vox is the only party to the trial that is still arguing to maintain the misuse of funds convictions or accusations in the Supreme Court against Puigdemont, Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Toni Comín, Lluís Puig, Raül Romeva and Dolors Bassa, and thus, not to apply the amnesty law for them.
Although Llarena and Marchena will end up deciding whatever they want and this decision from the prosecutors' office is by no means definitive, it is obvious that it changes the field of play. It is not the same to oppose the amnesty when the public prosecution service has changed sides and only the far-right asks that the law not be applied; nor is it the same as failing to suspending arrest warrants if the prosecutors ask you to. On the one hand, you are almost completely alone (Vox is not good company) and, on the other, there are, as well as the defence teams, the public prosecutors and state solicitors, who in the end will have to defend one position or the other before the European courts, as representatives of the Spanish state. Chief prosecutor García Ortiz will have a rather short future career in his position and he is situated halfway out the door for revealing secrets in the case that affects the partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, which has caused so much controversy.
Although Llarena and Marchena will end up deciding whatever they want and this decision is by no means definitive, it is obvious that it changes the field of play
Having said that, we'll wait and see what Llarena and Marchena end up doing in the next few days, because even though there's no deadline, no one thinks the resolution will take more than a week. It is no coincidence that the dates coincide, three years later, with the approval of the pardons and the release of the political prisoners from jail on June 23rd, 2021. All this will coincide with the debates in Catalonia for the investiture of the president of the Generalitat. Whatever Llarena's decision, president-in-exile Carles Puigdemont has stated both actively and passively that he plans to return to Catalonia when this investiture session is convened, whether he is the candidate or it is Salvador Illa. Neither of the two have enough votes assured for the moment, although it is significant that the leader of the Catalan Socialists and winner of the elections on May 12th has decided to buy some time to see if he can convince the leadership of the Republican Left to grant him the 20 votes he needs.