Zoom Image

Carles Puigdemont in Brussels: Waiver of immunity is legal

Photo: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has suffered a defeat at the Court of Justice of the European Union. The judges in Luxembourg dismissed the lawsuit against the waiver of his immunity by the EU Parliament on Wednesday.

The EU Parliament had decided in 2021 to lift the immunity of Puigdemont and two of his comrades-in-arms after the Spanish judiciary issued an arrest warrant and requested the waiver of immunity. The background to this was an independence referendum that was illegal under the Spanish constitution and the subsequent decision to secede from Spain in autumn 2017.

Carles Puigdemont, the regional president at the time, fled abroad with other members of the government to escape prosecution and now lives in Belgium. Since Puigdemont's escape, the Spanish judiciary has been trying to bring Puigdemont to justice in Spain – but so far in vain.

Puigdemont was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. As an MEP, he actually enjoys parliamentary immunity. However, Puigdemont did not make it onto the list of MEPs elected in Spain at the time – he had not personally sworn the oath to the Spanish constitution in Madrid as planned, because he would probably have been arrested there. Puigdemont's seat in the European Parliament has therefore been declared vacant and all his rights as an MEP have been suspended until he takes the oath.

Spanish government satisfied with verdict

Since then, Puigdemont has been defending himself against the waiver of immunity before the European judiciary. The parliament had made the right decision, the judges decided: the Spanish court proceedings had not been initiated in order to interfere with their activities as deputies. The parliament does not have to check whether the decision of the Spanish judiciary is lawful before making its decision, the judges said.

More on the subject

Ex-regional president of Catalonia: Puigdemont gives up party chairmanship

Puigdemont can take even further action against the decision and has already announced this. "Nothing has ended, quite the opposite," he tweeted. "We will defend our fundamental rights to the end." Puigdemont received support from Catalan regional president Pere Aragonès. Organizing a referendum is not a crime, he wrote on Twitter.

The Spanish government, on the other hand, was satisfied with the verdict: Puigdemont must be brought to justice, said Justice Minister Pilar Llop. The Socialist government continues to work towards Puigdemont's extradition.

It is expected that the Spanish magistrate in charge, Pablo Llarena, could now again issue European arrest warrants against Puigdemont. However, it is still unclear whether the Belgian judiciary will ultimately extradite Puigdemont. The former Catalan regional president has been briefly detained several times – he has never been extradited.

slü/dpa