EU Court Of Justice Temporarily Restores Diplomatic Immunity Of Catalan's Puigdemont

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2022) The Court of Justice of the European Union on Tuesday granted the appeal lodged by the former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his ex-ministers Antoni Comin and Clara Ponsati, who are now acting members of the European Parliament, and temporarily restored their parliamentary immunity.

The court's ruling suspends the operation of the European Parliament decision of March 9 2021, when members of the European Parliament voted to remove parliamentary immunity from Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati over their involvement in the 2017 Catalonian referendum deemed illegal by Spain.

Last July, the three former Catalan politicians lost the first appeal to suspend the waiver of parliamentary immunity in the General Court of the European Union. The court claimed that there was no proof that the trio could be arrested by Belgian authorities or any other country and handed over to Spain, preventing them from performing their parliamentary duties.

However, on September 23, 2021, Puigdemont was detained by Italian police at the airport in the Sardinian city of Alghero, where he arrived to participate in a folklore festival and to meet with local politicians. The next day, the court confirmed that his detention was lawful, but ruled that there were no grounds for keeping him in custody. After participating in the events in Alghero, the former head of Catalonia returned to Belgium, where he currently resides.

After the incident, Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati filed the second appeal to have their immunity reinstated.

Puigdemont, along with several former members of his government, has been evading the Spanish justice since October 2017, when he fled the country after being charged with secession over his role in the referendum and unilateral declaration of Catalonia's independence, considered illegal by the Spanish government. Madrid issued national and European arrest warrants for them, which did not prevent Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati to be elected to the European Parliament in May 2019.