A JUDGE has ruled that Scottish courts have “no jurisdiction” over the extradition of MEP Clara Ponsati to face a charge in Spain for her involvement in the unsanctioned Catalonia independence referendum.
Sheriff Nigel Ross agreed that the potential extradition of the former University of St Andrews academic is a “matter for the Spanish authorities” as the MEP had indicated she will not move back to Scotland from Belgium.
“Extradition in this case is impractical,” Sheriff Ross said as he dismissed the case at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
READ MORE: Catalan MEPs lose their immunity for the second time
“You can’t extradite someone who is not here,” he added.
The discharge was not opposed by the Crown’s lawyers, although they criticised a “clear breach of the position of trust that (Ponsati) was in” over her apparent failure to tell the court she was resigning her post at St Andrews and moving to Belgium.
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