European Parliament obliged to correct report from Committee on Legal Affairs

The European Parliament has had to correct the report prepared by the Committee on Legal Affairs dealing with  the immunity of three Catalan pro-independence MEPs persecuted by Spain. In the text, MEP Clara Ponsatí was mentioned as being accused of embezzlement. The chamber has published a correction to specify that the Spanish Supreme Court only claims her for sedition.

According to parliamentary sources, the change has already been reported to the speaker, the coordinators and the vice-chairs of the Committee on Legal Affairs who drafted and voted on the proposal to waive their immunity. These sources make it clear that the European Parliament plenary will vote on the corrected version of the report in March.

The document written by far-right MEP Angel Dzhambazki claimed that Spain’s Supreme Court demanded Ponsatí’s extradition for a crime of sedition and another one of embezzlement in connection with the organization of the Catalan indepenence referendum of 2017. The truth is that she is accused of sedition and that’s the reason why she went into exile to Scotland. Her Scottish lawyer, Aamer Anwar, refered to it on social media:

I was wondering whether Judge Llarena had made another mistake or if the Legal Affairs Committee got their orders from Spain? If you want to vote to lift @ClaraPonsati legal immunity, at the very least you could get the alleged crime right🙈 Sedition not Embezzlement🎗 pic.twitter.com/qNQcHu4SxL

— Aamer Anwar✊🏾🏳️‍🌈#BlackLivesMatter (@AamerAnwar) February 25, 2021