Former Catalan Prime Minister Puigdemont has failed in a lawsuit against the lifting of his immunity by the European Parliament. After years in self-imposed exile, he is threatened with extradition to Spain.
Former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan politicians have failed in the European Union’s General Court to challenge the European Parliament’s lifting of their immunity. The court in Luxembourg dismissed the claims of Puigdemont and his comrades-in-arms Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí. The decision was legal, as the Parliament could not give the Spanish judicial authorities any binding legal requirements, it said.
In 2017, against the will of the Spanish central government, Puigdemont called a referendum on the secession of Catalonia and then declared independence. The central government viewed this as a rebellion. Puigdemont then fled Spain to avoid prosecution.
In October 2017, Puigdemont fled to Belgium. In 2019 he was elected to the European Parliament. However, he was unable to take up his mandate – under Spanish law he would have had to take an oath on the constitution in Madrid.
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Puigdemont wants to continue to sue
In early 2020, the Spanish Supreme Court applied to the EU Parliament to lift the parliamentary immunity of Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí. Parliament approved it in March 2021. The three then went before the EU court.
In its judgment, the Luxembourg court rejected an objection by the politician to the lifting of his immunity. Puigdemont announced on Twitter that he would continue to sue MPs Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati, who are also affected by the verdict. This is possible in the next step at the European Court of Justice.
Delivery to Spain possible
After years in self-imposed exile, Puigdemont is now threatening extradition to Spain, which the authorities there have been demanding for years.
In January, Spain’s Supreme Court dropped the indictment against Puigdemont for sedition after a criminal law reform abolished the crime. He is still charged with disobedience and embezzlement. The Supreme Court had announced that it would submit a new extradition request to the Belgian authorities so that Puigdemont could be tried on the remaining charges. Spain’s previous attempts to have Puigdemont extradited during his stays in Germany, Italy and Belgium had all failed.