Barcelona/Brussels (EFE)
The judges will resolve the appeal that the independence leaders filed in 2021 against the European Parliament for withdrawing their parliamentary protection, accepting the petition requested by the Supreme Court to be able to try them one day in Spain for the cause of the “procés”.
The ruling may be appealed
The ruling, however, may be appealed, so its effects may not be final and its consequences will also depend on the decisions adopted by magistrate Pablo Llarena, who is instructing the cause of the 1-0 in the Supreme Court.
Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí request the annulment of the petition because they consider that the Supreme Court lacks the competence to request it, since in their opinion, the one who should judge them is the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC).
In addition, they denounce that the process lacked impartiality because the president of the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee that studied the case is the Spanish Adrián Vázquez (from CS), a party that has shown “hostility” towards the independence movement, as they explained before the TGUE the lawyers of Puigdemont.
He has provisionally recognized immunity
The former Catalan president and his former advisors currently have provisional immunity recognized until the sentence is handed down today, but they demand that the TGUE grant it permanently, alleging that in Spain they suffer “political persecution”.
Some arguments that State Lawyer Andrea Gavela Llopis rejected during the hearing that was held in the TGUE last December, stating that the Spanish legal system is “guarantorist”.
The European Parliament, for its part, assured that it has had “extremely open and correct behavior with” Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí.
Puigdemont’s defense avoided confirming last week whether the former president would return to Spain if he regained immunity.
On the other hand, if the sentence is unfavorable to them, they will appeal it to the higher instance, the Court of Justice of the EU, and they will again request precautionary measures to enjoy immunity until the case is definitively resolved.
In this way, they want to prevent the possible Euro-order that Llarena could issue from being executed if the TGUE withdraws their immunity.