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Judge in Spain extends probe into Catalan separatist’s ‘Russia ties’

A Spanish judge investigating exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont's alleged ties with Russia has extended his probe, highlighting links between his entourage and the Italian and German far-right.

Published: 29 January 2024 16:31 CET

Judge in Spain extends probe into Catalan separatist's 'Russia ties'

Spain’s right wing is infuriated by the prospect of Sánchez’s amnesty for Catalan separatists, as illustrated by this banner depicting Carles Puigdemont, seen at an anti-amnesty protest in Madrid on January 28th. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

The decision to extend the investigation for another six months was announced a day before Spanish lawmakers were to vote on a controversial amnesty law for separatists involved in a failed Catalan independence bid in 2017.

The amnesty law was a demand made by Puigdemont’s hardline separatist JxCat party in exchange for supporting a parliamentary vote in November that allowed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to serve a new term in office.

In a document dated January 26th, but only released on Monday, the magistrate said he was extending by six months his investigation which was due to end on February 27th.

“Given the extraordinary complexity of the case … it is absolutely impossible to finish the investigation” by the end of February, he wrote.

READ ALSO: Carles Puigdemont, Spain’s separatist kingmaker

The aim is to determine whether Puigdemont, the Catalan regional leader during the 2017 succession bid, had contact with the Kremlin and sought Russian support for an eventual Catalan state in exchange for mainly financial “compensations”.

After reviewing evidence, the judge said he found found “information which identifies people and confirms the close personal relationships between some of those under investigation with Russian, German or Italian individuals.”

“Some (of the Russians) held diplomatic roles at the time or had relationships with the Russian secret service,” the magistrate wrote, saying such contacts were a part of “the Russian government’s political strategy.. to destabilise democracy and the European Union”.

Others were “influential members of German and Italian political parties on the extreme right,” he wrote.

The investigation involves Puigdemont and several of his close allies.

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Spanish government begins proceedings to outlaw Franco Foundation

Spain’s Ministry of Culture has begun the process of outlawing the Fundación Francisco Franco because it fails to comply with the Democratic Memory Law, controversial legislation passed two years ago by the ruling Socialists (PSOE) to try and help Spain come to terms with its dictatorial past.

The foundation, which essentially promotes the legacy of former dictator General Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975, was founded in 1976 and presents itself as a “cultural institution without political affiliation”. It also sells nationalist memorabilia and books.

Among many admiring articles on its website, the foundation claims that Franco helped lay “the foundations on which it was possible for the democracy we enjoy to be built” and that “his successes are considerably greater than his mistakes.”

READ ALSO: 13 changes you may have missed about Spain’s new ‘Civil War’ law

The Ministry explained that it started legal proceedings to shut down the foundation “because it is considered contrary to the general interest to defend Francoism”. The move, which will likely prove controversial in Spain, has been justified by the government because it “complies with the provisions of the Democratic Memory Law.”

The legal justification is an article of the law that outlaws any group “that glorifies the coup d’état and the dictatorship or extols its leaders, with contempt and humiliation of the dignity of the victims of the coup d’état, the war or Francoism, or direct or indirect incitement to hatred or violence against them because of their status as such.”

The Democratic Memory Law, sometimes also referred to as the Historical Memory Law, was passed in October 2022 and is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that aims to settle Spanish democracy’s debt to the past and deal with the complicated legacies of its Civil War and the Franco dictatorship.

READ ALSO: Spain to relocate remains of Franco’s fascist allies to more low-key grave

The Spanish right has long been opposed to any kind of historical memory legislation, claiming that it digs up old rivalries and causes political tension. Spain’s centre-right party, the Partido Popular, pledged at the time to overturn the law if it entered government.

Among many other measures, the law made the search and excavation of mass graves the responsibility of the government, started DNA banks to identify victims, and annulled Franco-era convictions.

Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun stated in the Spanish press that the decision will ultimately be made by the courts. “Basically what we are doing is starting the implementation of the Democratic Memory Law,” he said.

The Franco Foundation said in a press statement that “we find it incomprehensible” that the law is being “directed exclusively against the Francisco Franco National Foundation.”

The process is expected to be lengthy and could involve several levels of the Spanish judiciary. The Franco Foundation may appeal any decision.

Democratic memory legislation is one of a series of steps by the PSOE government to make amends with the past, including exhuming Franco’s body and moving his body to a private family grave in 2019.

The Franco dictatorship is in living memory for many Spaniards and still an emotive issue. Critics argue historical memory legislation digs up historical divisions, and several right-wing run regions of Spain have attempted to repeal the Democratic Memory Law, including Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and Castilla y León.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Franco exhumed, transported by helicopter, and reburied as Spain takes ‘step towards reconciliation’

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