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The EU General Court protects the crazy run of Carles Puigdemont

 

The legal victory for Carles Puigdemont and his two MEPs colleagues, Antoni Comín i Oliveres and Clara Ponsatí! A few days before Parliament returns to Strasbourg for a plenary session (from June 7 to 10), the General Court rules in summary that the parliamentary immunity of Catalan separatists must be temporarily maintained. The European Parliament had removed the legal protection of Puigdemont, by 400 votes in favor, 248 against (including the National Rally) and 45 abstentions, in March 2021.

Refugee in Belgium and targeted by an arrest warrant issued by Spain for “sedition” and “embezzlement of public funds”, the former president of Catalonia once again escapes Spanish justice after the attempted secession of his region in 2017.

On borrowed time

By traveling to Strasbourg, France, Carles Puigdemont and his former regional ministers risked arrest. Its arguments were considered sufficient for the maintenance of its legal protection to be pronounced in interim relief while waiting for the General Court to examine the arguments of the European Parliament.

In March, Spain thought it had triumphed. Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya welcomed the vote of the European Parliament, considering that MEPs had recognized “the solidity of the rule of law in Spain” and shown “respect for the work of the Spanish justice ”. “The problems of Catalonia are dealt with in Spain, not in Europe”, she considered. This was without taking into account European justice, which analyzes, for its part, things differently … The three Catalan MEPs now represent European citizens. To hinder the exercise of their mandate is to call into question another source of legitimacy. Puigdemont’s crazy run continues.


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