Former Catalan minister Puig should not be sent back to Spain, Brussels court says
August 7, 2020
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A Brussels court ruled on Friday that a European arrest warrant issued against former Catalan minister Lluis Puig, a Belgian resident since 2017, should not be carried out.
The Brussels prosecutor said the court considered that the Spanish authority that issued the warrant was not competent to do so. The prosecutor may appeal the decision.
Spain issued European arrest warrants against Puig, along with former Catalan minister-president Carles Puigdemont and former Catalan minister Toni Comin for their role in an illegal referendum and declaration of independence for Catalonia in 2017.
Nine other separatist leaders were given long prison sentences in Madrid in 2019.
(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine; Editing by Gareth Jones)