BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) – The European Parliament has voted to take off the immunity of Catalonia’s former regional head of government and two other separatist lawmakers. This would take them a step closer to extradition to Spain, where they were charged with sedition.
The chamber declared on Tuesday that EU lawmakers had voted clearly supporting the move of stripping the immunity from prosecution of Carles Puigdemont and two former cabinet members, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati.
Puigdemont and Comin, who are in self-imposed exile in Belgium, became official members of the European Parliament in June 2019, while Ponsati, who is in Scotland, has officially been a member from January 2020.
All are likely to be subjected to European arrest warrants issued by Spain, seeking their extradition related to their role in organising the independence referendum in 2017, deemed illegal by a Spanish court.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said the decision was a sign of “respect for the work of the Spanish justice system” and a European lawmaker cannot use his condition to “protect himself from appearing in a national court.”
“Problems in Catalonia are solved in Spain, not in Europe,” she said, defending a solution through dialogue.
The European Parliament said the onus lies on the national judicial systems of EU countries to determine criminal proceedings.
A court in January did not agree to extradite Lluis Puig, another separatist former member of the Catalan government living in Belgium, after being imposed with charges of misuse of public funds.
Puigdemont has also been charged with misuse of public funds.
“We will not give up,” his party, Junts, tweeted after the EU parliament’s announcement.
“The political conflict between Catalonia and Spain has stopped being an internal affair. We have brought it to the heart of Europe to continue denouncing the repression and political persecution of the Spanish state,” it added.
Various independence leaders were convicted in Spain over the same charge of sedition in 2019 and was also sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.