The Council of Ministers has given the green light this Tuesday to the partial pardon of the former president of the Parliament of Catalonia and of Junts, Laura Borràs. The measure of grace replaces the prison sentence of four years, six months, and one day with another of two years, while the fine and the disqualification of four years and one day remain intact.
According to the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Courts, the pardon is granted on the same terms suggested by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, the body that convicted her and which in the ruling itself described the prison sentence as "disproportionate and excessive."
On February 12, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld Borràs's conviction for the crimes of prevarication and documentary falsification, with sentences of four and a half years in prison, 13 years of disqualification, and a fine of 36,000 euros, for the fragmentation of contracts to award them to a friend when she was in charge of the Institution of Catalan Letters (ILC) between 2013 and 2018.
Pardon for Natalio Grueso, the former mayor of Linares, and two individuals
In the same meeting, the Executive has agreed to grant a partial pardon to the artist and cultural manager Natalio Grueso, sentenced to eight years in prison, another eight of disqualification, and a fine for continued crimes of misappropriation of public funds, documentary falsification, and corporate offenses linked to his time at the helm of the Niemeyer Center.
The department has communicated the pardon of the part of the prison sentence that he still had to serve for "humanitarian reasons related to his health condition."
Likewise, the Council of Ministers has decided to partially pardon the former mayor of Linares (Jaén), Juan Fernández Gutiérrez, convicted of a crime of misappropriation of public funds. In his case, the sentence of three years in prison is commuted to another of two years, while the disqualification of seven years remains in place.
The request for pardon had the favorable report of the court that issued the sentence, the support of the popular group and the socialist group of Linares, the backing of the City Council of the city, and that of a neighborhood association that gathered a significant number of signatures in his favor in the municipality.
Finally, the Government has also approved the partial pardon of two citizens convicted of crimes against public health, whose sentences are reduced from three and four and a half years in prison to a sentence of two years. Both individuals had favorable reports from both the sentencing courts and the Public Prosecutor's Office.