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Jailed Catalan leader had immunity as MEP, court rules Catalan party calls for release of jailed leader after immunity ruling
(about 2 hours later)
Ruling is boost for Oriol Junqueras and Catalan separatist movement Separatist Oriol Junqueras had immunity as an MEP, rules EU court in boost for movement
A jailed Catalan separatist leader was a member of the European parliament despite not being able to take up his seat and so had immunity, the court of justice of the EU (CJEU) has said. A Catalan leader jailed for his role in an independence referendum deemed illegal by Spain was entitled to immunity as a member of the European parliament, despite not being able to take up his seat, the EU’s highest court has ruled.
The ruling is a boost for the Catalan separatist movement and Oriol Junqueras, who has been imprisoned in Spain since November 2017 over an illegal independence referendum. The court of justice of the EU (CJEU) ruling on Thursday regarding Oriol Junqueras is a boost for the Catalan separatist movement and potentially puts judicial authorities in Brussels and Madrid at loggerheads.
In October he was sentenced to 13 years in jail for sedition and misuse of public funds relating to the region’s failed independence bid. Junqueras was jailed for 13 years in October after being convicted of sedition and misuse of public funds related to the region’s failed independence bid in autumn 2017, which Spanish authorities declared illegal.
The CJEU ruled that if Spanish authorities had wanted to prevent Junqueras from travelling to the European parliament, they would have had to request that the parliament waive his immunity. He was elected to the European parliament in May despite having been in prison in Spain since November 2017.
More details soon … Eight other leading figures in the independence movement were sentenced to jail terms along with Junqueras, and the bitter standoff between them and the government in Madrid has dominated Spain’s fragmented political landscape for more than two years.
A spokeswoman for the government said it had no immediate comment on the ruling.
The court said if Spanish authorities wanted to prevent Junqueras from travelling to the European parliament, they would have to request that it waived his immunity.
Immunity means an MEP cannot be subject to detention or legal proceedings because of views expressed or votes cast, although it does not apply to an MEP who has committed an offence.
The Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), of which Junqueras is chairman, demanded his immediate release following the verdict.
“The [court] ... acknowledges that he had immunity,” the party wrote on Twitter. “We demand that the trial be voided and [his] immediate freedom.”
Also on Thursday, the leader of Catalonia’s regional government was found guilty of disobedience and sentenced to an 18-month ban on holding public office, the region’s highest court said on Thursday.
The sentence, which stems from Quim Torra’s refusal to follow orders from Spain’s electoral committee, is open to appeal, meaning the ban on holding office, if upheld, could take months to come into force.
The court also imposed a fine on Torra of about €30,000 ($33,066).