MADRID – Spain’s government said on Wednesday that pardons granted to nine jailed Catalan separatist leaders did not mean it was prepared to discuss a referendum on independence for the region.
The Supreme Court authorized the release of the nine politicians and activists after the cabinet approved the clemency measure in a gesture it hopes will foster dialogue to keep the region part of Spain.
The nine are expected to leave prison on Wednesday.
They were sentenced in 2019 to between nine and 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds, after an unauthorized referendum on a breakaway that led to a short-lived declaration of independence and Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
The pardons are conditional, and a ban on the leaders holding public office remains in place.(Reuters)
