Spain drops international arrest warrants for Catalan separatists
2018-07-20 09:38:07 source：The Times
July 19, 2018
Spain dropped an international arrest warrant for the fugitive ex-president of Catalonia and five other separatists yesterday after it become clear that other EU countries did not agree they were guilty of rebellion.
Pablo Llarena, a supreme court judge, said he had taken the decision after a German court agreed this month to consider the exadition of Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan president, to Spain, but only for the misuse of public funds, not for the more serious charge of rebellion.
It means that Mr Puigdemont, who was in Germany awaiting extradition proceedings, and five of his former ministers who are in Scotland, Belgium and Switzerland are free to move around Europe. They still face arrest if they return to Spain. In his ruling, Judge Llarena criticised German judges for their “lack of commitment” to justice. The decision is a blow to the prestige of the Spanish judiciary, but it comes at a time when the new Socialist government is trying to ease tensions with the secessionist administration in Barcelona.
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