09 March 2021
The Guardian, 9 March 2021.
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"The European parliament has voted to lift the immunity of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and two of his ministers, taking them a step closer to extradition and prosecution in Spain.
MEPs voted by 400 to 248 with 45 abstentions in the case of Puigdemont and 404 to 247 with 42 abstentions regarding Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, respectively the former health and education ministers in Puigdemont’s government.
The three fled to Belgium in 2017 to avoid arrest in relation to their role in organising a 2017 independence referendum deemed illegal by a Spanish court and have been the subject of European arrest warrants issued by Spain.
Spain’s foreign minister, Arancha González Laya, said the decision shows that “an MEP can’t use their position to avoid justice in their home country and demonstrates the solidity of the Spanish judicial system”.
She added that it vindicated the Madrid government’s view that “Catalonia’s problems will be resolved in Spain, not in Europe”.
However, the vote reflected a further rift in the Spanish coalition government, with leftwing Unidas Podemos MEPs voting to retain immunity while their socialist partners voted for it to be removed."
Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2021
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