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European Parliament committee votes to lift Catalan politicians’ immunity
Controversial vote paves way for extradition to Spain, where separatist politicians have received long prison sentences
Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, center, speaks during a media conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday Feb. 24, 2021
RIGHT-WING Spanish MEPs today welcomed a vote to lift immunity from three former Catalan officials who sit in the European parliament, which could see them deported to Spain for prosecution.
But the Council of the Republic of Catalonia, a symbolic body created in Belgian exile, called it a “black day for European democracy.”
The parliament’s legal-affairs committee voted 15-8 to waive the immunity of Carles Puigdemont, the former president of the Spanish region, as well as its former health and education ministers Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati.
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