Belgian Court Suspends Extradition Warrants Against 2 Ex-Catalan Leaders Puigdemont, Comin

MADRID (Sputnik) - A Belgian court has ruled to suspend arrest and extradition warrants issued by Spain against two former Catalan top officials, Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin.

"Belgian justice recognizes our [parliamentary] immunity and decides to suspend the arrest and extradition warrant! @toni_comin", Puigdemont wrote on Twitter.

Belgian justice recognizes our immunity and decides to suspend the arrest and extradition warrant! @toni_comin.
But now we are still waiting for the release of @junqueras, who has the same immunity as us. Spain must act in the same way as Belgium has done and respect the law

— Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) January 2, 2020

​Puigdemont was elected to the EU legislature in May alongside former Catalan health chief Toni Comin and the region's ex-vice president Oriol Junqueras. However, the politicians have been unable to carry out their mandates since Spain's electoral authorities have not recognised them as members of the European Parliament.

Madrid demanded that Puigdemont and Comin, who have fled to Belgium in the wake of the referendum, take the oath of office in Spain, where they face arrest. Junqueras, in turn, was already in Spanish custody over his role in the referendum when the election results emerged and was unable to engage in the parliament's work.

26 December was the last day for the defence and prosecution to argue their cases in front of the top EU court over whether Junqueras should be given immunity to take up his seat in the Strasbourg-based legislature.