Spain’s amnesty law sparks heated debate in European Parliament

euronews (in English)

Emotions ran high in the Strasbourg hemicycle on Wednesday as EU lawmakers clashed over Spain’s controversial amnesty law, part of a political deal with Catalan separatists to make Pedro Sánchez prime minister.

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00:00 The controversy over the Spanish amnesty law for Catalan independence-related crimes has

00:06 arrived at the European Parliament.

00:11 Two political groups, the EPP and Renew Europe, requested a debate Wednesday focusing on what

00:16 they consider to be rule of law breaches.

00:19 While they insist that the Spanish government's legitimacy is not being questioned, they say

00:23 that the amnesty law might end the separation of powers in Spain and undermine its judicial

00:28 independence.

00:29 "That's why we are worried about some of the developments.

00:32 What we need is to keep rule of law high, not only in the Eastern European countries,

00:36 but also in the so-called Western and Classical Europe countries.

00:40 And it's obvious that Sanchez is doing this only to get the votes, the seven votes from

00:45 Puigdemont to govern the country.

00:47 So it's about his personal egoism."

00:49 The European Commission is currently evaluating the law and will meet a Spanish representative

00:53 next week to discuss the text.

00:57 CDA-REN, as the commissioner in charge of the analysis, says that the assessment will

01:00 be independent and objective.

01:04 For the socialists, it's just another political battle for the EPP group.

01:09 They say that the text is a way of starting a process of national healing.

01:13 "Ladies and gentlemen, in the face of the greatest territorial crisis in Spanish democracy,

01:19 there are only two paths.

01:20 The failure of the imposition and the threat, or the path of dialogue, understanding and

01:25 reconciliation.

01:26 Mr. Bever, lying is not good.

01:29 And you have lied."

01:32 Born as a deal between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and two Catalan pro-independence

01:36 parties to usher in his re-election, it's ended up sparking nationwide protests over

01:41 concerns that the country's rule of law is at stake.

01:46 The legislation will grant amnesty to all crimes related to the Catalan independence

01:50 movement between 2012 and 2023, and could benefit hundreds, including Carles Puigdemont,

01:56 the former Catalan president who fled to Belgium after the independence referendum.

02:00 [SWOOSH]

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