The former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont as well as the other two MEPs of JuntsxCat and former councillors, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, presented the appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against the sentence late yesterday issued in July by the General Court of the EU (TGUE) which removed their immunity as MEPs.
Defense sources confirmed that the appeal was presented last night before the CJEU on the last day of the deadline, after the TGUE confirmed at the beginning of July the withdrawal of immunity from the three Catalan politicians.
Likewise, Puigdemont and Comín, accused of crimes of aggravated embezzlement and disobedience, are asking for precautionary measures to recover their immunity until the issue is resolved by the European justice system, given that these crimes involve prison terms. On the other hand, Ponsatí, accused only of disobedience – a crime that does not carry prison sentences – does not ask for these precautionary measures. The former councilor returned to Spain in March after the reform of the Penal Code repealed the crime of sedition for which all three were prosecuted. The trial judge, Pablo Llarena, sent a court summons to Ponsatí, to which he did not appear, which is why he sent a summons and search warrant. She returned to Barcelona in July, when she was arrested and then released.
Llarena already announced in July that he will not issue any warrant against Puigdemont and Comín until the CJEU rules on the appeal. Thus, the two MEPs were able to go to the last plenary session of the Eurochamber in Strasbourg this week. If the CJEU confirms the withdrawal of immunity, Llarena could reactivate the Euroorder.
The European judges dismissed the reasons put forward by the Catalan politicians in their ruling on the decision to withdraw immunity by the European Parliament. Specifically, they rejected arguments such as the lack of impartiality of the institution or the "political persecution" they alleged.
