Alex Trelinski
EX-CATALUNYA president Carles Puigdemont has had his European Parliament immunity restored by the European Court of Justice(ECJ).
It means that he cannot be extradited to Spain to face sedition charges- at least for the time being.
Puigdemont and two fellow separatist ‘Junts per Catalunya’ MEPs, Clara Ponsati and Toni Comin, fled Spain after organising an illegal independence referendum in their region in 2017.
Puigdemont and Comin have also been accused of misusing public funds.
The European Parliament last year voted to remove the trio’s parliamentary immunity opening up the possibility of being extradited to Spain to face trial.
The ECJ ruled to provisionally restore their parliamentary immunity due to the ‘high probability’ that they would be arrested.
Puigdemont’s solicitor described Tuesday’s news as a ‘provisional victory’.
He was arrested in Sardinia last September but released shortly afterwards after an Italian court said they needed to wait for the result of his appeal to the ECJ.
The ex-Catalunya president said the ECJ decision was ‘another positive result’ and he pledged to carry on fighting ‘for freedom’.
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