The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has rejected the amendments introduced by Spain’s conservative PP and centre-left PSOE, who voted against the report

In the first major setback in Europe for Spain’s Supreme Court rulings on Catalonia’s pro-independence leaders and the movement in general, the PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe yesterday approved the report on freedom of expression and assembly in Spain, Should politicians be prosecuted for statements made in the exercise of their mandate? The document, which had already been passed by the Legal and Human Rights Commission of the organization on 3 June, has not undergone any substantial changes after all the amendments of the PP and the PSOE were rejected by a substantial majority. Despite the Spanish parties’ efforts, they were unable to prevent the report from being approved by the Assembly as a whole, while they voted against it.

Thus, in line with the preliminary report, the final draft accepts that the pro-independence leaders are in fact political prisoners and calls on Spain to release them and withdraw the charges against the exiles; it calls on Spain to reform its Penal Code, specifically regarding the crimes of rebellion and sedition; it acknowledges that there was no violence by the people on 1 October; and it defends dialogue as the path to democratic resolution of the conflict.

Among the amendments presented by the Spanish parties and which were rejected, was the PSOE’s proposed elimination of the requirement of the Spanish Government to release the political prisoners and withdraw its demands for extradition. The Council of Europe thus reinforces the opinions that several European courts have held so far in rejecting the extradition of the exiles to Spain. The Council of Europe likewise rejects the continuation of court proceedings against other officials of Catalonia’s Generalitat government, which both the PSOE and the PP had hoped to maintain with their proposed amendments.

However, one of the amendments that was accepted was that presented by Esquerra’s senator, the only pro-independence representative in the PACE, Laura Castel. Ms Castel introduced the requirement that the Spanish state should engage political conflicts – including those “sensitive issues” such as the territorial configuration of Spain – without resorting to criminal proceedings.

Following the rejection of their amendments, the PP and PSOE parties decided to vote against the text. However, the report was approved by more than 60% of the European Chamber.