Spain's National Court grants amnesty to 12 CDR activists charged with terrorism

A brief ruling by the Audiencia Nacional has granted amnesty to the twelve activists of the Comités de Defensa de la República who were accused of belonging to a terrorist organization, causing damage and possessing explosives. The court cited the legal reasoning of the European Court of Justice, which mandated that the amnesty law incorporate the facts underlying the CDR case. This decision arrives three months after the EU affirmed the criminal “forgetting” of the Catalan independence process and after the Spanish parliament approved the amnesty law in June 2024.

Earlier, the National Court had expressed doubts that the law might conflict with EU directives, prompting it to refer the matter to Luxembourg for clarification. European judges rejected those concerns, stating the law does not undermine the EU directive because the CDR actions did not involve serious human-rights violations. While the CDR case is now permanently closed, the Supreme Court has denied amnesty to Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras, with the Constitutional Court ordering a partial reversal for Junqueras only.