Spanish govt reforms sedition law in nod to Catalan allies

By CIARÁN GILES
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spain has sealed final approval for controversial reforms to the crimes of sedition and embezzlement. It’s a move by the ruling center-left coalition to retain the support of a pro-independence Catalan party and ease tensions in the northeastern region. The package passed by a Senate majority scraps the crime of sedition for one of public disorder and lowers sentences for some embezzlement convictions. Right-wing opposition groups see the reforms as intolerable concessions to groups that tried to break up Spain in an illegal secession push in 2017. Many pro-Catalan independence politicians and officials who face trial over that, or have already been convicted, could benefit from the proposed changes.