The former President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont and ex-ministers Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, all three exiled in Belgium, had their appeals against the lifting of their MEPs immunity rejected by the EU General Court on Wednesday.
The three Catalans politicians had previously warned they would appeal the decision. Puigdemont and his colleagues are sought by Spain after they co-organised the referendum on Catalan independence in 2017, which Spain believes was illegal.
However, the Catalan leaders had seen the main charge of "sedition" dropped earlier this year following a reform of the penal code in Spain.
Their election in 2019 to the European Parliament was the subject of an initial legal battle, which culminated in the Parliament voting to lift their immunity in March 2021 over the arrest warrants against them by Spain.
Antoni Comin, Carles Puigdemont and Clara Ponsati pictured during a press conference after a plenary session of the European parliament, in Brussels, Tuesday 09 March 2021. Credit: Belga / Benoit Doppagne
In two judgments, the General Court of the EU on Wednesday rejected all the applicants’ arguments, including those that the Parliament had erred in concluding that the legal proceedings had not been brought with the intention of adversely affecting the activity of the MEPs.
An appeal may be lodged with the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) within two months and ten days of its notification.
In a statement last week to the Spanish agency EFE, the Catalan trio’s defence had indicated that it would lodge this appeal in the event of an unfavourable ruling. Their lawyers stated that they would request new protective measures to recover immunity on a provisional basis, until the case is finally resolved on the merits.
The Belgian Justice system has in fact yet to rule on the validity of the arrest warrants. The applicants believe that the Spanish Justice should issue new warrants against them, as the current ones have lost their validity due to the different charges now they face now.
The defendants are confident that the Belgian judge will await the final ruling of the CJEU before deciding whether or not to hand them over to Spain.
