The Supreme Court made the decision after Spain’s Constitutional Court upheld the inclusion of embezzlement crimes in a 2024 amnesty law. The decision means Puigdemont can return to Spain ahead of the new elections announced in November.
Puigdemont was previously the regional leader of Catalonia, but challenged the central government in Madrid by holding a referendum on Catalan independence in 2017.
Hundreds of Catalan separatists have been granted amnesty, but Puigdemont has been excluded. He was accused of using public funds to organize the vote, which the courts ruled amounted to embezzlement.
Puigdemont is believed to be in exile in Belgium, where he fled to avoid arrest after the referendum.
