The European Parliament is expected to withdraw the immunity of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and two fellow MEPs next week, allowing proceedings to extradite them to Spain to resume. The removal of their immunity would see the process resume, although they could attempt to appeal before the European Court of Justice. Persecution claimThe Catalan MEPs argue that the immunity waiver request should be rejected because it contains procedural irregularities and is based on unsubstantiated charges. “We’re not asking MEPs to take sides on how to resolve the Catalan issue,” Ponsatí told The Irish Times. If, as many expect, Spain’s Socialist MEPs vote to lift the immunity of the Catalan politicians, that could add a new obstacle to stuttering negotiations between Madrid and the Catalan government over the territorial issue.

Source: The Irish Times March 05, 2021 20:02 UTC