Not just going back to the Penal Code from before the 2015 PP reform, but finding a way to separate alleged cases of embezzlement from conflicts of a "political nature." ERC is working on amendments in this regard. By the way, together with the planned repeal of the crime of sedition, the measure would allow the reduction in the disqualification sentences that currently weigh on some of the pro-independence leaders.
Republicans have time to file amendments until tomorrow. It would be strange if they did not rush until that day to register it in Congress. There has been a distribution of the game and while Unidas Podemos works on how to correct the proposal to modify the crime of public disorder so that protest is not criminalized, Esquerra has arrogated to reconsider embezzlement.
That the Republicans would be in charge of doing so was already made clear on Sunday by the leader of the commons in Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, and on Tuesday by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. Yesterday, Marta Vilalta, deputy general secretary of Esquerra, confirmed it. She also stressed that the modification of the crime of embezzlement will have the purpose of not being "used to repress and persecute the independence movement and political dissent." Along the lines of what the ERC leader in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián, said a few weeks ago: "That the Penal Code should not be used as an ideological punishment."
The Catalan leader, in an interview with Europa Press, announced that they will soon specify the formula, after Sánchez showed himself willing on Constitution Day to lower the penalties for embezzlement as long as it does not benefit the corrupt.
ERC is clear that there can be no cracks in the measures they promote, which must be "surgical" and "rigorous", to avoid that "false accusations of embezzlement cannot be used to persecute, disable and repress" the independence movement.
Going back to the Penal Code from before the PP reform is also in the minds of the Republicans. It is something that Pere Aragonès already pointed out a few days ago. The popular ones, with Mariano Rajoy at the helm, grouped misappropriation and unfair administration – allocating and spending money inappropriately – under the crime of embezzlement. Artur Mas escaped being convicted of embezzlement because during the consultation on November 9, 2014, this unfair administration was not contemplated. The ERC reform wants to recover embezzlement only for cases in which one makes a profit or serves to enrich third parties.
Margarita Robles, Minister of Defense, confirmed this last idea yesterday on Telecinco and pointed out in line with the Republicans: "The Penal Code is not there to solve political problems", such as those that occurred in Catalonia in 2017. "We cannot think that the Problems are solved by penalizing behaviors”, he added. At this point, it should be remembered that Pedro Sánchez himself pointed out as a mechanism outside the Penal Code, for example, the application of article 155 of the Constitution. Political issues have to be settled "politically", insisted the Defense Minister.
In any case, the PSOE, Unidas Podemos and ERC have divided up tasks, but not so much the content of their amendments. Once the modifications are presented in Congress, each of the groups will use the magnifying glass.
From the parliamentary group of United We Can, it is taken for granted that the deadline for the presentation of amendments will run out, while their conversations with the Socialists remain open. United We Can not contemplate presenting any amendment related to the crime of embezzlement, as confirmed yesterday by Vice President Yolanda Díaz, but it does not advance a position on the matter until it is known what is intended to be done with this criminal offense and what is the nuance of the amendment proposed by Esquerra. In the confederal group there are different sensitivities in this regard, but the majority attitude is skeptical of a penal modification that can be interpreted as a benefit to politicians involved in corruption cases.
Likewise, Unidas Podemos has endorsed the concern of social and union activism regarding the new type of aggravated public disorder that different voices, including unions, warned days ago that it could be a criminal vehicle to persecute or limit social protests or union activity. . United We Can negotiate with the Socialists to introduce amendments that adjust the type to prevent it from being used as a repressive mechanism, but for the moment there is no closed agreement between the government partners on the matter.
