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AFGHANISTAN

‘Time is running out’: Spain warns it will have to leave people behind in Afghanistan

Spain will not be able to rescue all Afghans who served Spanish missions in Afghanistan because of the "dramatic" situation on the ground, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Tuesday.

Published: 24 August 2021 13:01 CEST
'Time is running out': Spain warns it will have to leave people behind in Afghanistan
Military personnel help an Afghan family after a second evacuation airplane carrying Afghan collaborators and their families landed at Spain's Torrejon de Ardoz air base. Photo: Mariscal/Pool/AFP

Robles said Taliban checkpoints and violence were making it difficult for people to reach Kabul airport to catch one of the daily flights on a Spanish military plane out of the country.

“We will evacuate as many people as possible but there are people who will stay behind for reasons that do not depend on us, but on the situation there,” Robles said during an interview with news radio Cadena Ser.

“It is a very frustrating situation for everyone, because even those who reach Kabul, access to the airport is very complicated,” she added.

“The Taliban are becoming more aggressive, there is gunfire, violence is more obvious,” she said.

“The situation is frankly dramatic and besides with each passing day it is worse because people are conscious that time is running out.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (L) and Minister of Defence Margarita Robles. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

Spain has been evacuating its nationals and local contractors from Afghanistan via Dubai since the Taliban swept to power ten days ago.

Madrid has so far evacuated just over 700 people from Afghanistan but Robles said there were still “many people” who feared Taliban reprisal who needed to leave.

“We will keep trying until the end,” she added.

The Spanish government has consistently declined to give a figure for the total number of people it planned to take out of Afghanistan.

US President Joe Biden has set an August 31 deadline to finish the chaotic airlift organised by thousands of temporarily deployed US and UK troops, but has left the door open to an extension if needed.

However, a spokesman for the Taliban warned Monday the hardline Islamist group would not agree to any extension.

Asked if Biden should extend the deadline for US troops to leave Kabul, Robles declined to comment, saying only that she was focused on Spain’s evacuation operation.

But during an interview with private television La Sexta on Monday, she said Spain could only carry out its evacuation flights as long as Kabul airport is “controlled” by US troops.

A child waves an Afghan flag during a demonstration called by “Ca la Dona” feminist association in support of Afghan women and girls, in Barcelona on August 18th. Photo: Lluis Gené/AFP

Another 420 people are expected to arrive in Spain on Tuesday, the minister said.

They include 290 people who are already in Dubai and 130 who are expected to leave on a Spanish military plane from Kabul, she added.

In addition, Spain has agreed to host up to 4,000 Afghans who will be airlifted by the United States to air bases in Rota and Moron de la Frontera in southern Spain.

Under an agreement signed by Madrid and Washington, the evacuees may stay at the airbases which are used jointly by the United States and Spain for up to 15 days.

READ ALSO: ‘It’s Europe’s hub’ – EU chiefs to visit Afghan evacuation centre in Spain

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POLITICS

Spain court refuses amnesty for Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont

Spain's Supreme Court refused Monday to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on a charge of misusing public funds, maintaining arrest warrants over his failed 2017 secession attempt.

Published: 1 July 2024 14:50 CEST
Spain court refuses amnesty for Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont

Spanish MPs in May passed an amnesty law aimed at drawing a line under years of efforts to prosecute those involved in the botched secession bid that triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

Blocking the amnesty for Puigdemont could complicate life for Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who relied on Catalan parties to secure a new term in office in November.

The law is expected to affect some 400 people, first and foremost Puigdemont, regional leader at the time of the independence bid, who fled Spain to avoid prosecution.

In a statement, the court said judge Pablo Llarena, who is in charge of the case, “issued an order declaring the amnesty is not applicable to the crime of misuse of public funds”.

It said it agreed to keep in place “the arrest warrants” against him.

Any appeal must be made within three days.

Disobedience, embezzlement charges

Sánchez agreed to push through the measure in exchange for the parliamentary support of the Catalan separatist parties for him to serve a new four-year term in office.

After parliament voted to approve the amnesty law on May 30, judges were given two months to apply the law by annulling the charges and cancelling any arrest warrants against the separatists.

But the courts must apply the amnesty on a case-by-case basis, making it a long and drawn-out process.

Last year, the Supreme Court dropped the sedition charges against Puigdemont and two others following a controversial criminal code reform.

Prosecutors filed fresh charges against them of misuse of public funds and disobedience in connection with the independence bid.

In February, the court also opened a “terrorism” probe into Puigdemont over a string of mass street protests by a group called Democratic Tsunami. Spain jailed 13 pro-independence leaders in 2019 over the protests.

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In his decision, Llarena said the amnesty law was applicable to the crime of disobedience, but could not be applied in the case of misappropriation of public funds because of two exceptions.

The law allows the amnesty to be applied if the funds were used to finance the pro-independence process, but not if the money was taken for personal gain or if it involved European Union funds.

For that reason, the arrest warrant for Puigdemont would remain in place “for the offence of misuse of public funds but not for disobedience,” the judge wrote.

Separate ‘terrorism’ charge

The other case against Puigdemont involving so-called street “terrorism” is being handled separately.

Shortly after the announcement, Puigdemont posted a brief message on X, formerly Twitter, referring to “La Toga Nostra” — comparing the robe-clad judges to Sicily’s Costa Nostra mafia.

Last month, Llarena informed police that the arrest warrant for Puigdemont would remain in force until a decision were made about whether amnesty can be applied in his case or not.

Many judges have expressed opposition to the amnesty law. Spain’s right-wing and far-right opposition has staged months of protests against it, some of which have turned violent.

It has also caused deep rifts within Spanish society and even within Sanchez’s own ruling Socialist party.

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