Spain's Supreme Court said it had rejected an appeal by exiled Catalan separatist figurehead Carles Puigdemont against his exclusion from an amnesty law aimed at resolving years of crisis.
Puigdemont led Catalonia when the wealthy northeastern region held a banned secession referendum and unilaterally declared independence from Spain in 2017, sparking the country's worst political crisis in decades.
He fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution but stood to benefit from an amnesty law that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez proposed in a bid to soothe tensions and secure another term with the backing of MPs from Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya party.
Junts' candidate, Carles Puigdemont, was Catalonia's president during the ill-fated attempt to wrest the region from Spain in 2017 before he fled to self-imposed exile in Belgium.
But last year the Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty could not apply to Puigdemont and another senior figure in the Catalan independence movement, Toni Comin, because of embezzlement charges against them.
The court based its rejection of their appeals on the suspicion of misusing public funds, which could earn them several years in jail.
"The suspects benefited financially insofar as they personally promoted the illegal political project and foisted the expenses on the regional administration, without that initiative satisfying any public interest," it said in a statement on Thursday.
Puigdemont wrote on X that the ruling was "no surprise" and confirmed the court's "rebellious attitude" against a law they dislike.
Puigdemont and Comin can lodge a final appeal with the Constitutional Court, which could rule their rights have been violated.
Fugitive Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says he wants to return to Catalonia as soon as possible to take oath as the region's next president.
