Madrid: Spain’s government has issued formal pardons for nine Catalan separatist leaders imprisoned for their part in a failed 2017 independence bid.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Tuesday’s move was needed to diffuse longstanding tensions in Catalonia, where the referendum-fuelled drive to break away from Spain four years ago plunged the country into its deepest political crisis for decades.
“The government has taken the decision because it is the best decision for Catalonia and the best decision for Spain,” Sanchez said in a televised appearance. “We hope to open a new era of dialogue and build new bridges.”
But opposition to the pardons has been fierce, with officials across Spain’s political spectrum – and secessionists – accusing Sanchez’s administration of pulling off a political stunt.
Former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, who in 2019 received the heaviest sentence of 13 years in prison for sedition and misuse of public funds, will go free along with his associates after spending three and a half years behind bars.
