Belgium cannot extradite Catalan deputies Carles Puigdemont and Anthony Comin at this time.
The vice president of the General Court of the European Union, part of the European Court of Justice, has temporarily suspended the lifting of parliamentary immunity for three Catalan MEPs. These are the former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont and the two former Catalan ministers Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati.
The Spanish court wants to try Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí for their participation in the Catalan independence referendum on October 1, 2017, and thus has issued European arrest warrants (EAW) against the trio. Meanwhile, they were elected as EU parliamentarians, and the Scottish and Belgian courts decided they could only rule on the implementation of these rules after the three’s parliamentary immunity was lifted.
At the beginning of March, at the request of the Spanish court, the European Parliament decided to lift the immunity of the three Catalan politicians, but Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati appealed this decision to the General Court of the European Union. There they began the procedures for canceling the decision of the European Parliament and the temporary procedures for suspending this decision. In recent proceedings, the Vice-President of the General Court has now decided to temporarily suspend the lifting of immunity.
“No final decision has yet been made on the summary proceedings,” says Simon Pickart, attorney for Puigdemont and Comín. The European Parliament now has two weeks to respond to our petition, after which the summary proceedings can be heard. In the meantime, the three politicians can travel safely to Strasbourg for the Parliament session.
The three Catalan politicians argued before the EU General Court that the EU Parliament’s decision meant that any EU member state and the UK could arrest them, or restrict their freedom of movement and extradite them to Spain, where they could be threatened with detention pending investigation. They argued that it would cause them irreparable harm, arrest them or violate their right to exercise their parliamentary function.
The General Court said in a press statement that “the Vice President of the General Court has now decided to suspend the implementation of the decisions of the House of Representatives until a decision is issued regarding the initial relief measures.” The Vice-President notes that Parliament has not yet been able to present its arguments in the interim measures, so that it is not yet possible to decide on the merits of the measure. Court rules state that an interim decision can be taken if it is necessary to maintain the status quo until the end of the proceedings. In this case, according to the Vice-President, the claims of the deputies justify maintaining the status quo so that he can study all the arguments of the parties and make a final decision on the summary actions.
The press conference between Sophie Wilmots and Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya has been cancelled. Kanak learns this from Madrid. It is alleged that Gonzalez Laya does not want to talk about troubled relations with Morocco.
The vice president of the General Court of the European Union, part of the European Court of Justice, has temporarily suspended the lifting of parliamentary immunity for three Catalan MEPs. It concerns the former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont and the former Catalan ministers Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati. The Spanish court wants to sue Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati for their participation in the Catalan independence referendum on October 1, 2017, and thus has issued European arrest warrants (EAB) against the trio. Meanwhile, they have been elected as EU parliamentarians and the Scottish and Belgian courts have decided that they can only rule on the implementation of these rules after the three’s parliamentary immunity has been lifted. At the beginning of March, at the request of the Spanish court, the European Parliament decided to lift the immunity of the three Catalan politicians, but Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati appealed this decision to the General Court of the European Union. There they began the procedures for canceling the decision of the European Parliament and the temporary measures to suspend this decision. In the latter action, the Vice-President of the General Court has now decided to suspend the lifting of immunity for the time being. Says Master Simon Pickart, attorney for Puigdemont and Comin. The European Parliament now has two weeks to respond to our petition, after which the summary proceedings can be heard. In the meantime, the three politicians can travel safely to Strasbourg for the Parliament session. The three Catalan politicians argued before the EU General Court that the EU Parliament’s decision meant that any EU member state and the UK could arrest them, or restrict their freedom of movement and extradite them to Spain, where they could be threatened with detention pending investigation. They said it would cause them irreparable harm, arrest them or violate the right to exercise their parliamentary function. “The Vice-President of the General Court has now decided to suspend the implementation of the decisions of Parliament. Until a decision is taken on the initial relief measures,” apparently in a press release from the Court of First Instance. The Vice-President notes that Parliament has not yet been able to present its arguments in the interim measures, so that it is not yet possible to decide on the merits of the measure. Court rules state that an interim decision can be taken if it is necessary to maintain the status quo until the end of the proceedings. In this case, the claims of the representatives, according to the Vice-President, justify the preservation of the status quo so that he can study all the arguments of the parties and make a final decision on the summary actions. Affairs of Arancha Gonzalez Laya has been cancelled. Kanak learns this from Madrid. It is alleged that Gonzalez Laya does not want to talk about troubled relations with Morocco.
