The European Union’s top court annulled the lifting of parliamentary immunity for Carles Puigdemont, citing a breach of impartiality in the original decision.
MADRID: The European Union’s top court has annulled the lifting of parliamentary immunity for Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled the original process was flawed.
It found the appointment of the rapporteur handling the immunity waiver requests was “contrary to the requirement of impartiality”.
The rapporteur belonged to the same EU parliament group as Spain’s far-right Vox party, which had challenged the immunity alongside the Spanish state.
“The court sets aside the judgement of the General Court and annuls the three decisions of the parliament,” the Luxembourg-based institution stated.
The ruling also applies to two other exiled Catalan MEPs, Antoni Comin and Clara Ponsati.
Puigdemont led Catalonia’s regional government during a banned 2017 independence referendum.
He and his colleagues fled to Belgium after Spain’s Supreme Court sought their arrest.
They were later elected to the European Parliament in 2019.
The EU parliament lifted their immunity in 2021 following a request from Spanish judges, a decision now overturned.
The ruling is largely symbolic for Puigdemont’s immediate situation.
He remains in self-imposed exile and still faces arrest in Spain on a separate embezzlement charge not covered by a recent amnesty law.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez passed that amnesty for separatists in exchange for political support after inconclusive 2023 elections.
The court’s decision underscores ongoing legal complexities surrounding the decade-long Catalan independence dispute.
