EU court to rule on jailed Catalan leader's rights
Jailed Catalan leader 'should have had immunity', rules EU court
(about 4 hours later)
The EU's top court is to rule on the case of a jailed Catalan separatist leader who has not been able to take up his European Parliament seat.
A jailed Catalan separatist leader who has been unable to take up his European Parliament seat should have been given immunity, the EU's top court says.
Oriol Junqueras was elected in May while awaiting trial over his role in an illegal Catalan independence referendum in 2017.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Oriol Junqueras became an MEP the moment he was elected in May, despite being on trial for sedition.
Spanish law requires new MEPs to swear an oath on the constitution in Spain.
Junqueras was later convicted and jailed for his role in an illegal 2017 Catalan independence referendum.
Junqueras, who has been in custody since November 2017, was not allowed to do this while in prison.
His Republican Left of Catalonia party is demanding his immediate release.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has to decide not on the rights or wrongs of the Catalan referendum, but whether Junqueras's parliamentary immunity entitles him to serve as an MEP.
Spanish law requires new MEPs to swear an oath on the constitution in Spain. Junqueras, who has been in custody since November 2017, was not allowed to do this while in prison.
The ruling may also affect the status of two other top Catalan separatists, who fled to Belgium before Spain could detain them: ex-leader Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin.
On Thursday, the ECJ ruled that Junqueras should have "enjoyed the immunities guaranteed" by EU law after the election results were confirmed.
They were also elected as MEPs in May, but could not take up their seats in the Strasbourg parliament as, like Junqueras, they had not sworn the Spanish oath.
It added that if Spanish courts had wanted to maintain his provisional detention to prevent him from travelling to take his seat in the European Parliament, they should have requested that Parliament waive his immunity.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Strasbourg to protest over the Catalans' absence from the European Parliament's first plenary session in July.
Junqueras - the separatists' deputy leader - is in the Greens/European Free Alliance bloc. Its leader, Scottish MEP Alyn Smith, condemned Spain's actions.
Junqueras was democratically elected by more than a million Europeans, he said, adding: "dialogue is the only solution to the differences between Spain and Catalonia, not locking up democrats."
Do MEPs come under EU or national law?
In most cases, ECJ judges follow the advocate general's advice.
Last month, the ECJ's top legal adviser, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, argued that taking an oath to respect the Spanish constitution was not a step in the process of being elected an MEP.
An MEP's mandate and parliamentary immunity, he argued, begin as soon as the MEP is elected.
"The parliamentary mandate may be acquired solely from the electorate and may not be conditional on the completion of any subsequent formality," he said in a legal opinion.
An EU law of 1976 says a member state cannot suspend an MEP's mandate or prerogatives, which include parliamentary immunity.
Mr Szpunar said it was up to the European Parliament to decide whether to waive or defend an MEP's immunity. So, by implication, Junqueras could have asked the parliament to intervene on his behalf.
What does immunity mean in this case?
In June the Spanish Supreme Court refused to let Junqueras swear the oath; he then claimed immunity as an MEP, and the Supreme Court asked the ECJ to clarify the immunity rules.
But in October the Supreme Court sentenced him to 13 years in jail for sedition and misuse of public funds. Eight other Catalan separatists also got jail sentences.
At that point Junqueras's legal status changed, under Spanish and EU law.
The immunity rules protect an MEP from any investigation or prosecution based on their opinions or votes as an MEP. But an MEP found to have committed an offence cannot claim immunity.
Mr Szpunar points out that Junqueras lost his civic rights when he was sentenced. That removed his political mandate under Spanish law, preventing him from taking office.
What is the background to the conflict?
Catalan nationalists have long complained that their region, which has a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years, sends too much money to poorer parts of Spain, as taxes are controlled by Madrid.
In 2017, police and protesters clashed in the streets when Catalonia's pro-independence leaders went ahead with a referendum, which had been ruled illegal by Spain's constitutional court.
The Catalan regional parliament subsequently voted to declare independence from Spain. Angered by that, Madrid imposed direct rule by invoking Article 155 of the constitution - a first for Spain.
The Spanish government sacked the Catalan leaders, dissolved parliament and called a snap regional election on 21 December 2017, which nationalist parties won.
In June 2018, Catalan nationalists regained control of the region from Madrid's direct rule after a new government was sworn in. Catalonia remains deeply divided and the separatist movement is still simmering.
At their trial Junqueras and other separatists said they were victims of an injustice and "false" charges.
