French activist José Bové, a former MEP, has warned the European Parliament not to underrate the importance of the vote on waiving the immunity of MEPs Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, because if the Belgian judiciary later backs their argument and denies the extradition demand lodged by Spain, the European Parliament will have been ridiculed.
In an interview with the Perpinyà newspaper L'Indépendant, Bové states that he has asked MEPs not to lift the immunity of Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí. "I have asked MEPs to vote against the lifting of immunity. This is much more important, because if it is waived, it could happen that Belgium doesn't accept the extradition [requested by Spain], as Germany did, and the European Parliament would then be left looking stupid,” he affirms.
Bové also says that the debate which has already taken place in the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs, which votes to present the immunity request to the plenary session on Monday, is not entirely an indication of what could happen in the European Parliament. "Since [the three Catalans] were elected as MEPs, and even before, Germany and Belgium have made rulings that the conditions for extradition to Spain have not been met with regard to its judicial independence. In addition to this, is the curious composition of the Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs which voted for the lifting of the immunity, which contains many Spanish members from the right, centre-right, and the far right... with the full range of those critical of the Catalan pro-independence groups. And that has weighted the vote in favour of lifting immunity," he said.
According to Bové, in the full parliament, the composition is more plural and there is more contention over the vote. "Will Spanish MEPs convince their colleagues to vote for [the immunity waiver] and will there be support in Madrid?" he asks. The activist also declared himself in favour of eliminating the crime of sedition from the Spanish law books, as promised by the Spanish PM, Pedro Sánchez, and he noted that the Catalan independence movement came out strengthened from the recent Catalan elections "despite imprisonments and people who had to leave the country". “The movement has come out even stronger in numbers, it’s overwhelming,” he concluded.