Spain closes Russia probe against Catalan separatist leader

A judge from a lower court placed Puigdemont under investigation for high treason
The Supreme Court said in a statement it had “decided to close the proceedings” opened into the “alleged Russian interference in the Catalan independence process“

MADRID: The Spanish Supreme Court on Thursday said it had closed a treason investigation against Catalonia’s exiled separatist figurehead Carles Puigdemont over alleged Russian interference in the region’s failed 2017 secession bid.
The worst crisis Spain had experienced in decades saw the wealthy northeastern region hold a secession referendum and proclaim a short-lived declaration of independence whose aftershocks continue to reverberate.
A judge from a lower court placed Puigdemont under investigation for high treason to determine whether he had contacts with the Kremlin or tried to gain Russian support for Catalan independence in return for financial compensation.
The Supreme Court said in a statement it had “decided to close the proceedings” opened into the “alleged Russian interference in the Catalan independence process.”
Spain’s top court last year shelved a separate investigation against Puigdemont for a terrorism charge related to 2019 protests in Catalonia against prison terms handed out to separatist leaders for their role in the secession bid.
Puigdemont has lived in exile in Belgium since the crisis and remains Spain’s most-wanted fugitive as he was excluded from the remit of an amnesty law introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftist government to heal tensions.
But his Junts per Catalunya party wields outsized influence in national politics as its seven MPs often determine whether Sanchez’s minority government passes legislation in the hung parliament.


The Spanish Supreme Court on Thursday said it had closed a treason investigation against Catalonia’s exiled separatist figurehead Carles Puigdemont over alleged Russian interference in the region’s failed 2017 secession bid. (AP/File)