The Government will have to position itself on the capture of Puigdemont in full negotiation

The escape of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont added two new chapters this Monday. On the one hand, the general elections yielded a result in which his party will play a determining role in the possible governance of Pedro Sánchez and, on the other, the Prosecutor's Office asked the Supreme Court to issue a new international search and arrest warrant against him. “One day you are decisive in forming a government in Spain and the next day Spain orders your arrest,” Puigdemont himself ironized. The Government will have to face this crossroads on the political level, but also through the State Lawyer in the Supreme.

Legal sources explain that two scenarios are now open to Llarena. The one that they point out as the most probable would consist of notifying the rest of the parties, including the Lawyers, so that they can rule on the suitability of ordering the capture of Puigdemont again.. The second would mean skipping this step and launching the new order based on the writings of Vox and the Prosecutor's Office, which would allow the legal services of the State to move away from the focus at first. In any case, the same sources indicate that Llarena's decision would be appealable, so if they remain silent, they would be giving their approval indirectly..

In the absence of Llarena making a move, Sumar has just recovered the leader of En Comú Podem Jaume Asens to try to channel the negotiations with Puigdemont and carry out a new investiture of Pedro Sánchez. “For our space, it is a luxury to have someone of the career of Jaume Asens, who has shown in the past his ability to agree,” said the party led by Yolanda Díaz in a brief statement.. “We believe that with your knowledge of the Catalan political reality, as well as your good relationship with many of the spaces called to understand each other, it will be easier to reach an agreement”.

back with immunity

The Prosecutor's Office has asked Llarena to issue a new order against Puigdemont after the General Court of the EU (TGUE) withdrew his immunity as a European parliamentarian at the beginning of the month. The resolution of the TGUE is still appealable and, therefore, it was possible to wait for it to be final, but the Prosecutor's Office defends that the capture should be reactivated now because the appeal would not have “suspensive effect” on the loss of immunity.

“Consequently, the Public Prosecutor's Office is interested in the search and capture and imprisonment of Carles Puigdemont Casamajó and Antoni Comín Oliveres being agreed again by the investigator, and that an international search and capture order be issued in case it is necessary to process an extradition request, as well as a European arrest and surrender order,” he defends in the letter sent this Monday to the Supreme Court..

In this way, the Prosecutor's Office does not even wait for Llarena to notify him of the matter, but rather follows in the footsteps of Vox and asks to launch a new international order now. As pointed out by the Public Ministry, it is “a mandatory procedural action” after the TGUE ruling at the beginning of the month, since they themselves had requested that Euro-orders be issued against the fugitives before they achieved parliamentary immunity as MEPs.

The new arrest warrant would now be issued on the basis of the crime of aggravated embezzlement, which includes penalties of up to 12 years in prison and between 10 and 20 years of disqualification.. While the Government tries to obtain the support of Junts per Catalunya or, at least, its abstention, that is the fundamental request that forces the State Lawyer to take sides.