Catalan separatist politicians have been released from prison

Photo: EPA-EFE / Susanna Saez

Catalan separatist politicians accused of plotting to secede from Catalonia, who were pardoned by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, were released from prison today.

Sanchez has previously pardoned all nine Catalan separatist leaders arrested for their role in organizing Catalonia's secession referendum in 2017.

The pardons abolish the remaining years of imprisonment for the leaders, but the ban on holding public office remains in force.

Twelve separatist Catalan leaders have been convicted of rioting and other acts against the constitutional order, nine of whom have been sentenced to several years in prison for organizing a banned referendum on Catalonia's independence and declaring secession in October 2017. Three were fined.

Former Vice President of Catalonia Oriol Junqueras, who received the most severe sentence of 13 years in prison in 2019 for rioting and misuse of public funds, will be released along with his associates after spending three and a half years in prison.

Sanchez announced the pardon of Catalan separatists in Barcelona on Monday, stressing the need for "reconciliation" in Catalonia, where society is deeply divided between supporters and opponents of independence following the 2017 crisis.

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