Reactions to the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant pardons for the process: “The report is devastating”

Leaders of the process. (Photo: EFE)

The Supreme Court opposes the granting of any form of pardon – total or partial – to the 12 convicted of the procés for crimes of sedition, embezzlement of public funds and disobedience by failing to appreciate reasons of justice, equity and public utility that would justify the granting of the measure of grace.

The magistrates consider that the principle of proportionality of the sentences to which they were sentenced has not been violated, that there is no proof or indication of repentance on their part.

It adds that the arguments on which the various petitions for pardons made by third parties are based blur the meaning of the pardon because they draw a collective criminal responsibility and, in addition, they intend that the government correct the sentence issued by the Supreme Court.

Asked about the matter, the president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, Carlos Lesmes, has assured, although without citing the specific case, that “a pardon when there is no harmony is difficult to accept.”

The opposition leader, Pablo Casado, has considered the report “devastating” and has defended that his party “will go to the end to defend justice.”

Likewise, the Secretary of Justice and the Interior of his party, Enrique López, has warned the Government that granting pardons to the leaders of the ‘procés’ “implies apologizing to those convicted and condemning the judges.

“If pardons are granted, we would be in a state of law with a government against the law,” said the ‘popular’ leader in statements to the Sixth.

In this context, López has stressed that violating the rule of law is “humiliating the Spanish people” and has charged the Government for “contextualizing and justifying similarities …

This article originally appeared on The HuffPost and has been updated.