The presiding judge of Spain's Constitutional Court, Juan José González Rivas, has called a non-face-to-face session of the court for 6th May, which, among other business, will deal with the question of whether to admit writs of amparo by seven of the nine Catalan political prisoners: Jordi Turull, Jordi Sànchez, Josep Rull, Carles Mundó, Jordi Cuixart, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell and Joaquim Forn. The seven pro-independence leaders are appealing against their convictions for sedition and misuse of public funds delivered in October last year, and the amparo process is an assertion that their constitutional rights have been breached. If the court does not admit their appeal, or does admit it but then rules against it, they can then begin the years-long process of appealing their sentences to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The nine Catalan political and civil leaders were convicted for their parts in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum in a court sentence which prompted a massive wave of protests and serious unrest in Catalonia. The two prisoners who are not part of the May hearing, Oriol Junqueras and Raül Romeva, were the first to file their amparo appeals for annulment of the sentence, and had a response at the end of last year, when the court denied their appeal.
In a press statement, the Constitutional Court stated that it has convened the full court session plenary for May 6th "using a substantially written procedure." The agenda consists of a total of eight items, and also among them are an appeal by Jordi Turull against the decision by the Bureau of the Spanish Congress to suspend him as an MP on May 24th, 2019 and one by Jordi Sànchez against actions by the Supreme Court in relation to last year's case.
Also on the agenda is an appeal filed by deputies of Spain's far right Vox party against a decree to combat the social and economic impact of Covid-19. Vox accuses the decree of being unconstitutional.