Decision revealed: a complete U-turn by the public prosecutors, and thus, more requests are made to apply the amnesty law to further cases. This time the prosecutors are asking the National Audience to apply the law wiping out Catalan independence-related court cases to the twelve Committee for the Defence of the Republic (CDR) activists whose case has dragged on since autumn 2019 when they were arrested amid the drama of a massive Civil Guard operation days before the sentencing of the Supreme Court leaders trial, and told they were under investigation for terrorism. At the time, the public prosecutors requested between 8 and 27 years in prison for them after judge Manuel García-Castellón indicted them for the crimes of belonging to a terrorist organization and for their possession, storage and manufacture of explosive substances. But now, after the decision was left hanging in the air for for days, the National Audience deputy prosecutor Marta Durántez has aligned herself with the thesis of legal aid group Alerta Solidària and have asked judge Alfonso Guevara for a full amnesty for all the accused. "The interpretation is clear and leaves no doubt: only those acts of terrorism that have produced a serious violation of rights and freedoms according to the European Convention are excluded, something that has not occurred in the events included in this case", she argued in the pre-pronouncement hearing that was held this Thursday. Thus, the prosecutor requests that the criminal liability of the twelve people investigated be extinguished. Now, the application of the amnesty remains in the hands of the court, which in the coming days will have to decide and announce its ruling.
During her appearance at the hearing, Marta Durántez maintained that, to exclude the CDRs from the amnesty, "a serious and intentional violation of human rights would have been necessary", but she made it clear that the accused "did not go as far as materializing or initiating the execution of the conduct" and that "danger to the life or physical integrity of people did not occur". "We cannot start from assumptions or from the potential damage, but from certainties, and it is true that there was no damage done to rights which are listed as grounds for exclusions from the amnesty", he added. Prosecutor Durántez thus joins the positions of the prosecutors in the case of the Democratic Tsunami: public prosecutors have asked both judge Susana Polo, who is investigating Carles Puigdemont and Ruben Wagensberg at the Supreme Court, and Manuel García-Castellón, who has on his desk the case of ten others (including Marta Rovira) under investigation for terrorism in the National Audience, to apply the amnesty law.
The only voice opposed in the CDR case is that of the private prosecution, formed by the far-right political party Vox, associations of victims of terrorism and the organization Dignity and Justice. The lawyer Ignacio Fuster-Fabra has been very critical of the amnesty law, which he considers "incompatible" with European law and the Constitution. During his address, he was interrupted by the judge for giving speech full of political connotations and argued that it was Spanish security forces and the Justice department that "prevented" any attack from happening.
"Undoubted legal match" and an application "beyond all discussion"
The hearing began with the defence lawyers having speaking turns. First up was Carlos Hurtado, who, like all his colleagues, defended "the undoubted match" of the CDR case with the criteria of the amnesty, and also argued that its "full application" is "beyond all discussion". The reason is clear: because of the dates, because of the area in which actions occurred and because none of the exclusions provided for in the rule apply. In this sense, Xavier Monge has stressed that the amnesty is "drafted in a very clear and unequivocal way by the legislator, whose will, no matter who it weighs on, is clearly expressed in the rule".
For her part, Eva Pous denounced that the CDR investigation is "an absolutely prospective case" and stressed that "many of the actions described in the case are the exercise of human rights defended by international conventions", such as going to a demonstration or supporting Catalan independence . "You can be pro-independence and you should never, simply for that reason, put someone in a case like this one, a long trial simply because of their ideology," she concluded.
The CDRs at the National Audience: a hearing suspended on April 1st
This Thursday's hearing comes after a first failed attempt to hold it on April 1st, Easter Monday - before the amnesty was passed. After it began, the judge noticed the absence of a defence lawyer, who had already communicated that he was ill, and suspended the hearing. And in fact, it was on May 30th, hours after the Congress of Deputies finalized the approval of the amnesty law that the judge reactivated the case and summoned all parties for this Thursday, June 27th. Today's appointment takes place two weeks after the publication of the law in the official gazette and its entry into force.
The twelve people accused in the case, members of CDR pro-independence activist groups that formed during the independence process, are accused of violent actions. The judge's report and indictments include, for example, the throwing of oil on the C-55 highway to slow down the police convoy taking the Catalan political prisoners to Lledoners prison in 2019. However, in this case the group known as the "Lledoners 9", which included two of those investigated in the Operation Judas case, were acquitted. The investigation of these 12 CDR activists also claimed that they were planning a possible occupation of the Catalan Parliament with the aim of "staying inside for a week, with an estimated budget of 6,000 euros and with long-distance antennas" - another supposed plan which was not implemented. And they were also alleged to have taken part in the protests in Barcelona on the occasion of the Spanish cabinet meeting held in the city on December 21st, 2018. In the investigation, the Civil Guard indicated that those prosecuted were part of a CDR group called the Tactical Response Team (ERT), which was described as a "radicalized cell” which was allegedly planning acts of sabotage in Catalonia.