The ex-judge of the National Court Baltasar Garzón, deputies of Sumar such as Jaume Asens and Enrique Santiago, the deputy of the ‘comunes’ Gerardo Pisarello, the lawyer of the ‘trial’ Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas (who came to represent the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont) or the former progressive member of the General Council of the Judiciary Concepción Sáez are among the more than 200 lawyers who have signed a manifesto “for amnesty, democracy and coexistence”.
Also included are Nicolás García Rivas, Antoni Llabrés Fuster, Javier Mira Benavent and Guillermo Portilla Contreras, authors of the Sumar amnesty proposal; the constitutionalists Javier Pérez Royo and Joaquín Urías; ERC senator Joan Queralt; the also leader of ERC Joan Ridaó; the former vice president of Francina Armengol’s Government in the Balearic Islands, Juan Pedro Yllanes Suárez (Vamos); or the former socialist mayor of Fuenlabrada Manuel de la Rocha Rubí, whose son currently serves as an advisor in Moncloa.
In the text, collected by Europa Press, the signatories express their support for “the parliamentary majority being able to approve measures such as an amnesty law to help normalize the political situation between Catalonia and the State.”
Thus, they recall that “the objectives of amnesties, according to current International Law, are to encourage social reconciliation and contribute to the reestablishment of normal relations in the life of a country.”
They emphasize that “pardon, waiver of criminal action, amnesty or other equivalent legal figures have been used in different parts of the world.” “Just like in Spain, normally. In France, Italy or Switzerland there are amnesty laws,” they have detailed, also citing the Portuguese case.