西班牙最高法院裁定，加泰罗尼亚前总统卡尔斯·普伊格德蒙特可以在近十年前因主持一次失败的独立公投而自我流放后，无需担心被逮捕即可返回。
Spain's Supreme Court has ruled the former president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, can return without fear of arrest nearly a decade after going into self-imposed exile having led a failed independence bid.
法院维持了撤销针对他的逮捕令的决定，该逮捕令与他所在的地区政府于2017年组织的公投有关，此举违背了马德里的立场。
The court upheld a decision to lift an arrest warrant for him linked to the referendum his regional government organised in 2017, in defiance of Madrid.
公投后不久，中央政府对该地区实行了直接统治，普伊格德蒙特逃往比利时，此后一直以比利时为基地——2024年他在巴塞罗那的意外出现引发了警方的通缉行动。
Direct rule was imposed on the region soon after the vote and Puigdemont fled to Belgium, where he has been based ever since - with a surprise appearance in Barcelona in 2024 prompting a police manhunt.
但他可能返回的西班牙如今与十年前大不相同，加泰罗尼亚独立如今已成为一个边缘化的政治议题。
But the Spain to which he may return is much different from a decade ago, with Catalan independence now a marginal political issue.
周一的裁决结束了西班牙司法机构与前加泰罗尼亚总统之间漫长的法律争执。
Monday's ruling brings to an end a lengthy legal wrangle between the Spanish judiciary and the former Catalan president.
2024年，西班牙社会党政府为数十名参与分离运动的加泰罗尼亚政客和活动人士提出了一项有争议的大赦法案，但最高法院表示，普伊格德蒙特及其几位同事应被排除在外。
In 2024, Spain's socialist government introduced a controversial amnesty for dozens of Catalan politicians and activists who were involved in the secession drive, but the Supreme Court said Puigdemont and several of his colleagues should be excluded.
最高法院认为，这是因为他们涉嫌因组织公投而涉及的所谓金融犯罪。
It argued this was because of the charges against them of alleged financial crimes around staging the referendum.
本月早些时候，宪法法院推翻了这一解释；周一，最高法院驳回了极右翼政党Vox对撤销针对普伊格德蒙特、以及他的前部长卢伊斯·普伊和托尼·科明的全国逮捕令的上诉，为他们返回西班牙铺平了道路。
The Constitutional Court overruled that interpretation earlier this month, and on Monday the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the far-right Vox party against lifting national arrest warrants for Puigdemont, as well as his former ministers Lluís Puig and Toni Comín, paving the way for their return to Spain.
普伊格德蒙特于2019年当选为欧洲议会议员（MEP），并于2024年以加泰罗尼亚中右翼政党“加泰罗尼亚团结”（JxCat）的领袖身份当选为加泰罗尼亚议会议员。
Puigdemont was elected as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2019 and to the Catalan parliament in 2024 as leader of the region's centre-right Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party.
他曾在法国南部开展竞选活动，在那里他举办了集会，吸引了跨越边境前来支持他的人士。
He had campaigned in the south of France, where he held rallies attended by supporters who travelled across the border to see him.
普伊格德蒙特自离开西班牙以来，已知至少有一次短暂返回，在巴塞罗那向支持者群众发表讲话后，在被拘留之前便消失并越境逃回法国。
Puigdemont is known to have made at least one brief return to Spain since leaving the country, addressing a crowd of supporters in Barcelona prior to disappearing and escaping back over the border to France before he could be detained.
他在比利时滑铁卢居住期间，他的九名前同事因在2017年事件中的角色被判入狱。他们在2021年获西班牙政府特赦后获释。
While he was living in Waterloo, Belgium, nine of his former colleagues were jailed for their role in the events of 2017. They were released when the Spanish government pardoned them in 2021.
普伊格德蒙特一直保持着活跃的政治影响力，遍访欧洲以宣扬加泰罗尼亚独立事业，并猛烈抨击西班牙的民主制度。
Puigdemont has remained an active political presence, travelling across Europe to espouse the Catalan independence cause and fiercely criticising Spain's democratic institutions.
就在最高法院裁决宣布之际，他在社交媒体上发布的一段视频中谈到了他留在国外的原因。
In a video posted on social media just as the Supreme Court ruling was announced, Puigdemont spoke of his reasons for staying abroad.
“我的角色是煽动舆论、国际化冲突，并从欧洲中心出发解释西班牙的现状，”他说。目前尚不清楚他何时可能返回西班牙。
"My role was to stir public opinion, internationalise the conflict and work from the heart of Europe to explain the reality of Spain," he said. It is still not known when he might return to Spain.
他之前的地区卫生部长科米恩计划本周前往马德里，在那里他将履行与其欧洲议会议员身份相关的行政程序。
Comín, his former regional minister for health, plans to travel this week to Madrid, where he is due to carry out administrative procedures linked to his status as an MEP.
此次公投引发了自弗朗西斯科·佛朗哥逝世后民主恢复以来西班牙最大的政治危机。
The referendum sparked the country's biggest political crisis since democracy was restored following the death of Francisco Franco.
被禁止的公投遭到警方的严厉�压。该地区的分离主义多数在投票后宣布独立——马德里随后解散议会，罢免其领导人并宣布举行提前选举。
The banned vote was met with a heavy police crackdown. The region's separatist majority declared independence after the vote - Madrid then dissolved parliament, sacked its leaders and called a snap election.
但如今，加泰罗尼亚独立在西班牙已成为一个相对边缘化的议题，住房和移民主导着政治议程。
But Catalan independence is now a relatively marginal issue in Spain, with housing and immigration dominating the political agenda.
普伊格德蒙特所属的JxCat党在议会中的支持对现任首相佩德罗·桑切斯在2023年大选后组建新的左翼西班牙政府起到了关键作用。
The parliamentary support of Puigdemont's JxCat party was instrumental in allowing current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to form a new left-wing Spanish government after the 2023 election.
但在加泰罗尼亚内部，JxCat党正陷入困境，一个极右翼、亲独立的政党——加泰罗尼亚联盟——正夺走其许多选民。下个月，西班牙将举行大选，极右翼势力有望首次入主政府。
But within Catalonia, JxCat has been struggling, with a far-right, pro-independence party, Catalan Alliance, taking many of its voters. And next month, Spain's general election could see the far right enter government for the first time.