The Spanish Supreme Court says the European Arrest Warrant against Catalan president Carles Puigdemont "was never deactivated." Sources in the Supreme Court have stated that the preliminary issue which had been raised by investigating judge Pablo Llarena in the EU Court of Justice only relates to a clarification on Belgium's decision to dismiss the extradition demand for a fellow pro-independence politician, Lluís Puig, and does not have any effect on the decision that could be made in Italy following the arrest of Puigdemont by police in Sardinia on Thursday evening.
Despite this, when the EU General Court decided once again to lift Puigdemont's immunity last July, it did so on the grounds that there was no risk of the pro-independence politician's imminent arrest.
The EGC denies any risk of arrest
In a press statement, the vice-president of the EGC argued that the "urgent" requirement that Puigdemont had argued in his appeal, with reference to a risk of serious and irreparable damage, did not exist, because it had not been shown that he could be subject to imminent arrest.
Puigdemont had called for interim protective measures until the resolution of his appeal against the petition approved by the European Parliament in March in response to a request from investigating judge Pablo Llarena.
The General Court specifically argued that Puigdemont could leave Belgium to attend the European Parliament meetings in Strasbourg without having to suspend the European Parliament's decision.
The reason was that the Luxembourg court considers - and the Supreme Court confirmed - that at the time when a preliminary issue is raised the whole procedure is stopped until the judge responds, and judge Llarena has preliminary issues pending. "Having suspended the criminal proceedings in question through this request, the execution of European Arrest Warrants has also been suspended, as Spain has indicated," the EGC said in its decision. (The full text of the EGC decision in Spanish is at the end of this article).
The Supreme Court disagrees
By contrast, the Spanish Supreme Court argues that the preliminary issues affect only the case of Belgium, since they refer to the decision of the courts of that country to reject the extradition of Catalan minister Lluís Puig, while it does not affect the European Arrest Warrant in other countries.
Carles Puigdemont has been arrested this Friday in Sardinia / Efe
This is what the judge of the Court of Appeal of Sassari, Sardinia, will have to resolve tomorrow after Puigdemont was arrested this Friday by Italian border police when he landed in L'Alguer from Brussels. The president is currently in custody awaiting a court appearance tomorrow.
Since the EGC's suspension of the immunity of the three Catalan pro-independence MEPs, all three of them - Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí - have travelled normally to Strasbourg, where they have participated in the meetings at the European Parliament, and to northern Catalonia - in French territory - without any problems.
The Junts MEPs have informed the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, of Puigdemont's situation.
Below, the Spanish-language version of the European General Court's ruling on July 30th 2021 once again lifting the immunity as an MEP of Carles Puigdemont (No English version was published by the Court).
In the main image, the investigating judge Pablo Llarena / Europa Press