A SPANISH bid to have the immunity of three Catalan MPs waived will be heard by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee next month.
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and ex-ministers Clara Ponsati and Toni Comin fled Barcelona after the 2017 indyref to avoid being arrested, but Spanish authorities have doggedly pursued them – Puigdemont and Comin in Belgium and Ponsati in Scotland.
They can travel freely anywhere in Europe, with the exception of Spain, which wants them arrested over their roles in the referendum. Nine of their former colleagues were jailed for between nine and 13 years after being found guilty of sedition, including Puigdemont’s then vice-president Oriol Junqueras, who received the harshest term.
READ MORE: Clara Ponsati: Why Scotland should be worried by the EU’s silence on Catalonia
The case against them in Europe had been held up because of the Covid-19 crisis, but the committee yesterday reactivated the procedure that could see their parliamentary immunity suspended.
Neither of the trio had to appear before their peers and the virtual meeting was behind closed doors.
Depending on whether the health crisis accelerates or eases, they may have to appear in person before the committee on December 7 – again at a private meeting.
Yesterday though, Puigdemont was buoyant, writing on social media: “On December 7, it will be three years since the great demonstration for the independence of Catalonia and against political repression took place in Brussels.
“A good day to defend our rights at the heart of the most important institution of European democracy.”
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