The EU General Court on Wednesday (5 July) upheld the choice of the European Parliament to waive the parliamentary immunity of three Catalan separatist MEPs — Carles Puigdemont, Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí.
In 2019, 9 Catalan leaders in whole have been sentenced by Spain’s prime court to 9 to 13 years in jail for sedition and the misuse of public funds, over their function within the 2017 failed referendum on independence for Catalonia.
Puigdemont and Comín then took their seats within the EU Parliament in January 2020.
At that time, the parliament stated Puigdemont, Comín and Oriol Junqueras loved immunity as MEPs as of 2 July 2019, when their mandate began on the premise of the official declaration of the outcomes of the elections by the competent Spanish authorities — and in step with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ).
In 2020, the parliament introduced that it had obtained a petition from Spain’s Supreme Court to waive the immunity of each Catalan MEPs. And in 2021, it was lifted.
The Luxembourg court’s ruling confirms that suspension of their immunity, on the grounds that the information for which they’re being tried predate their parliamentary immunity.
But it doesn’t put an finish to the method.
The present common court determination is anticipated to be appealed earlier than the European Court of Justice throughout the subsequent two months — confirmed by the previous head of the regional Catalan authorities Puigdemont throughout a press convention held in parliament.
After these two months, the EU court of justice can have one other six months to decide, which the Catalan MEPs stated they count on to be “beneficial”.
“The EU Court’s determination confirms what we already knew, that the method of lifting immunity was flawless and carried out with all ensures,” stated Adrián Vázquez Lara, chair of the parliament’s authorized affairs committee (JURI), which was in cost of dealing with the request to waive MEPs’ immunity.
“Today political dissent is extra threatened in Europe,” stated Puigdemont after the court introduced their determination.
Under an arrest warrant towards Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí — issued by the investigating decide of the Spanish Supreme Court — Puigdemont was arrested in Germany in 2018 and at an airport in Sardinia in 2021.
Also, final 12 months, Ponsatí was detained for hours by the police after returning to Barcelona following 5 years of exile.
Now the decide may reactivate the arrest warrant — however solely after a brand new request.
After Wednesday’s determination, Puigdemont sees his return to Spain “simply as shut and simply as distant” as earlier than.
The MEP stated they may defend their place of what they see as political prosecution to the bitter finish. “This has no place in Europe. We believed it and we nonetheless consider it,” he stated. “I cannot cease insisting on this path and insisting on my rights, as a result of they’re collective rights”.
In 2021, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez granted a pardon to the Catalan separatist leaders convicted.
