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The firm conviction for rebellion or sedition will be the novel and forceful element that the Prosecutor will use to request that the Euroorder be reactivated against Carles Puigdemont, according to sources from the Public Ministry. The request will be presented by Judge Pablo Llarena, who continues to be responsible for the part of the case of the prosecutor who has not been brought to trial for the flight of former President and former Councilors Antonio Comín, Lluís Puig, Meritxell Serret and Clara Ponsatí . The defendant Marta Rovira also fled, but she is in Switzerland , a country where neither the Euroorder works nor is there any intention of delivering to anyone.

The law establishes that it must be the Prosecutor's Office that claims the issuance of a European Detention and Delivery Order (euroorder). With that request on the table, it is the investigating judge who decides. Legal sources indicate that Llarena intends to claim again the detention and surrender to the Spanish Justice of the escaped. Another thing is that the activation of the arrest warrant will be immediate.

The same sources consider that, although the magistrate has not made a final decision, everything indicates that he would prefer to wait for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to rule definitively on the immunity alleged by both Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras.

The reason is that if the delivery to Spain were requested when that matter was still in the air, the door would open for the Justice of the corresponding country - probably Belgium , where Puigdemont resides - to reach a conclusion other than the Supreme and estimate that the fled does enjoy immunity as a parliamentarian. On the contrary, with a decision of the CJEU denying the privilege, that encounter with the Spanish Justice would not be possible.

The Prosecutor's Office plans to use the final sentence to reactivate the petition

The provision of the Supreme Court is that the CJEU rejects that Puigdemont and Junqueras have acquired immunity, in accordance with previous jurisprudence on the matter and even the first decisions of the European court denying precautionary measures to Puigdemont.

In addition to choosing the time to take the Euroorders, Judge Llarena must also choose their territorial scope. On paper, you can choose to take the petition to all the countries included in the system or to the place where you know the claim is located. The normal thing, in the case of Puigdemont, would be to address the Belgian Justice.

Countries that receive the euroorder must take macrojudgment into account

It could also wait for the ex-escaped former president to move to a less problematic jurisdiction than the Belgian (Puigdemont has always eluded, for example, stepping on France ). However, this type of choice could bring image problems, as well as not guaranteeing anything, as was seen in the case of Germany .

In July of last year, Llarena decided to withdraw all Euroorders by verifying that the Schleswig-Holstein Regional Superior Court refused to authorize the delivery of Puigdemont to be tried for rebellion or sedition. Only authorized the delivery by embezzlement, an option that the magistrate resigned. The reverse came after Belgium previously objected to the Spanish Euro-orders, apparently more because of problems than in substance.

The regulations of the Euroorder allow to return to claim a flight on which the delivery has been rejected if there are novel elements. The existence of a firm conviction against other partners in the crime would be one of them. Henceforth, the court to which the case of Puigdemont should be studied must take into account that the Supreme Court has held a macro-trial on the matter, with the interrogation of more than 400 witnesses, and has concluded that a crime was committed. When Germany was asked for delivery, there was only evidence.

In any case, even if the EU court denied immunity to Puigdemont, the country examining the euroorder could deny it again. Germany, for example, could say again - although with more difficulty than the first time - that the facts proven by the Supreme Court would not be a crime in Germany.

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  • Carles Puigdemont
  • Oriol Junqueras
  • Marta Rovira
  • Clara Ponsati
  • 1-O trial
  • Referendum in Catalonia
  • Supreme Court

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