Spanish government on Tuesday pardoned nine Catalan separatists who were convicted over a failed independence bid in 2017.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Catalan leaders were sentenced to a jail term that ranged from nine to thirteen years after being found guilty of sedition in 2019.
Thousands have protested against the pardons which the government said was aimed at calming the tensions over Catalonia.
“With this act, we want to open a new era of dialogue and reconciliation, and end once and for all the division and confrontation,” said Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez in a televised address on Tuesday.
Gatekeepers News reports that it might take days before the pardoned prisoners regain their freedom, as the pardons must first be signed by the king and published in the country’s official gazette.
The Spanish Government, however, did not overturn the prisoners’ ban on holding office and was conditional on them not committing any other crimes within a certain period.
