On Monday, the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) voted in favour of withdrawing the immunity of the former head of the government in Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, and two other separatists MEPs from the region, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati. 400 MEPs voted in favour of the proposal, with merely 248 voting against it.
Consequently, Puigdemont condemned the decision and said that it was a “sad day for the European Parliament.” Moreover, he declared that the three leaders intend on appealing the decision in the European Court of Justice. He added, “We have lost our immunity but the European Parliament has lost even more than that, as a result, it has also lost European democracy.”
Unsurprisingly, the European Parliament’s decision has been supported by the Spanish government. The country’s Foreign Minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, said that the MEP’s decision was clear evidence of the fact that the problems in Catalonia need to be resolved in Spain and not Europe.
The three political leaders had fled from Spain to Belgium following the failure of Catalonia’s independence referendum in 2017, which saw the participation. 90% of Catalonians voted for independence. However, the Spanish Supreme Court declared that the vote was entirely illegal and in violation of the Spanish constitution. This resulted in the Spanish police pushing against individuals of the region who were assembling to participate in the vote by using rubber pellets and batons. The incident led to around 900 civilians being severely injured. This in turn instigated one of the worst political crises in the country.
Consequently, Spanish authorities charged the three abovementioned leaders with sedition, which was described by Puigdemont as a “clear case of political persecution.” Additionally, Puigdemont and Comin were been accused of misusing public funds. However, after the European Parliament granted the three leaders with immunity, proceedings in the Spanish court that sought to issue warrants against them were halted.
The decision by the European Parliament this week, however, now paves the way for Puigdemont, Comin, and Ponsati to be extradited from Belgium and tried by Spanish authorities. In fact, Spanish courts have already begun the process of calling for their extradition. Just hours after the announcement of the MEPs vote on Tuesday, Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for guidance on the interpretation of an extradition order against the three leaders under the European Union’s laws to determine what the next step for the Spanish authorities will be. Moreover, a CJEU advisory allowing an extradition order would also reduce the chances of the Belgian authorities rejecting the Spanish authorities’ request.
However, it remains unclear whether the Belgian government will do so, as it had previously denied the Spanish government’s request calling for the extradition of former Catalan minister Lluis Puig, who has been accused of misusing public funds. According to European legal expert Mar Aguilera Vaques, the courts in Germany, Brussels, and Scotland have been wary of extraditing Catalan leaders, citing concerns about the legal proceedings in Spain. In the past, courts in these countries have raised concerns about Spanish authorities refusing to grant leaders from the region access to a fair trial by denying appeals and putting them in pre-trial detention.
Spanish Court Seeks to Extradite Catalan Leaders After EU Parliament Withdraws Immunity
The EU Parliament lifted the immunity granted to three leaders from Catalonia who have been accused of spear-heading separatist movements within Spain, opening doors for their extradition to Spain.
March 11, 2021
Carles Puigdemont, one of the key Catalan leaders whose immunity was uplifted by the European Union's Parliament. SOURCE: EPA