MADRID – The European Parliament has stripped the immunity of Carles Puigdemont, the former separatist leader of Catalonia, and paved the way for Spain to make a new attempt to extradite him from Belgium and try him on a charge of sedition. .
The European Parliament said on Tuesday that a majority of its members had voted in a secret ballot a day earlier for the immunity of Puigdemont and two other Catalan members of the assembly facing charges in Spain in connection with a attempt to declare Catalonia removed. independence in 2017. The Spanish court has ruled that their bid was unconstitutional.
The vote on Monday sparked a long battle by Mr. Puigdemont and his colleagues end up using their protection as elected members of the European Assembly to protect them from persecution in Spain. It is now up to the Belgian judiciary to decide whether Puigdemont should be sent back to the Spanish capital, Madrid, to stand trial.
“This is a sad day for the European Parliament,” Puigdemont said. “We have lost our immunity, but the European Parliament has lost more than that and consequently European democracy,” he said, adding that it was “a clear case of political persecution”.
The Spanish government welcomed the vote.
‘The problems of Catalonia will not be solved in Europe or by Europe. “They must be resolved in Spain by all Catalan forces to bring the table,” said Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya. The vote showed that the European Parliament “respects the work of the judiciary in our country”, she added.
The European Parliament’s decision comes just weeks after regional elections in Catalonia, which increased the majority of parties for independence in the local parliament. Separatist politicians have ruled since 2015, but the separatist conflict has divided Catalan society, while also being a very controversial issue in national politics.
Mr. Puigdemont and some of his colleagues have been in Brussels since October 2017, shortly after the Spanish central government ousted his regional government for holding a referendum on whether the Spanish courts had ruled illegally and then declared Catalonia’s independence.
During the past three years, Mr. Puigdemont successfully repulsed attempts to extradite him from Belgium and Germany, where he was briefly detained during a trip.
In January, Belgian judges also rejected a request to extradite another former member of Catalonia’s local government, Lluis Puig, who is facing similar charges in Spain. The Belgian court has argued that the Spanish Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to issue an arrest warrant against Mr. Puig did not reach out, adding that he should be tried in a regional court.
However, part of the former government of Puigdemont remained in Spain and was tried before the country’s Supreme Court. Nine Catalans have been jailed after being convicted of crimes, including insurrection and misuse of public funds.
One former Catalan leader, Oriol Junqueras, has also been barred by the Spanish Supreme Court from taking his seat in the European Parliament. Both he and Mr Puigdemont were elected to the meeting in 2019.
The vote of the European Parliament will allow a Spanish judge to issue a European arrest warrant against Mr. To reactivate Puigdemont, who was suspended in early 2020, when Mr. Puigdemont and his colleagues in the European Assembly.
The Catalan leaders are not the first members of the European Parliament to be deprived of immunity.
In 2019, the European Parliament stripped the immunity of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the far-right National Front party in France. The case of Ioannis Lagos, who was sentenced in Greece last year for his activities with the far-right Golden Dawn party, is still being reviewed. The Greek government considers Golden Dawn to be a criminal organization.
The Catalan case has divided politicians in Brussels, and many of them abhor the precedent of legislators being tried for political activities. The removal of the immunity of Mr. Puigdemont was approved by three-fifths of the members of the European Parliament.
It could take months before the Belgian courts rule on Spain’s latest attempt to oust Mr. Puigdemont and the two other Catalan leaders, Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí.
The Brussels public prosecutor is investigating the possibility of renewing legal action in Belgium, a spokesman for the office said.
Should the Belgian courts block the extradition request, the Catalans would remain in the European Parliament, but without special immunity rights.