Spain's top court asks EU Parliament to strip Catalan separatist leaders of immunity

Spain’s Supreme Court on Friday formally asked the European Parliament to strip Catalan separatist leaders Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin of their immunity as members of parliament.

The court has reiterated its request to Belgian authorities to arrest and hand over Puigdemont and Comin to Spain and maintained their European arrest warrants, it said a statement.

Puigdemont and Comin were elected to the European Parliament in May 2019, and last month, the European Union’s top court ruled that both men were entitled to immunity as elected MEPs.

They fled to Belgium in 2017 in the wake of Catalonia’s failed bid for secession. Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced various other Catalan leaders to jail terms for their role in the attempt to hold an unauthorized independence referendum.

(REUTERS)