The Spanish Court rejected the appeals filed by Vox and Cidadanos against the pardons of Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart. Both were presidents of ANC and Omnium Cultural, respectively, and condemned in the case against the proces.

The Fifth Chamber of the High Court of Administrative Justice has issued a unanimous judgment, stating that these parties have no legitimacy to bring such an action. Only those who can prove that they suffer direct damage from these pardons can appeal, and that is not the case for these parties.

With the judgment, the magistrates do not have a fundamental question, that is, whether the reasons of the government for pardon, which were of public utility, are legal or not. The Supreme must also examine the appeals against Oriol Junqueras, Raúl Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Basa, but this judgment provides for similar sentences.

Four years of punishment to Buch and Escorà

During the days when the Proces' amnesty option is on the negotiating table, the Barcelona Court has sentenced the former Interior Minister of the Government of Catalonia, Miquel Buch, to four and a half years in prison, and Lluís Escorà Mosso's agent to four years. According to the ruling, Buch hired Escorà when President Carles Puigdemont was abroad to work as a bodyguard, so the counselor has been charged with prevarication and misappropriation of public funds. Buch has also been disabled for public office for 10 years and Escorà for 19 years.

Escorà participated in the flight of Puigdemonte in October 2017, leaving him out of service. However, Buch hired him as a security advisor from July 2018 to March 2019, so both have been convicted on this issue.

The judgment comes at a very difficult time, Junts has demanded from the PSOE amnesty in the negotiations of government constitution for the crimes of the proces and, furthermore, the need to channel amnesty before the investiture session. Presumably, this may hinder the negotiations between Sánchez and Puigdemonte. Junts strongly condemned the sanctions and Josep Rius’s spokesman said that “the importance of early recovery is now better understood”.