The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Fife academic’s extradition case dismissed
Aformer St Andrews University academic who “refuses” to return to Scotland to face extradition proceedings over the 2017 Catalan independence referendum has had the case dismissed in a Scottish court.
Sheriff Nigel Ross ruled the Scottish justice system has “no jurisdiction” over the extradition of MEP Clara Ponsati from Belguim to face a charge in Spain over her involvement in the unsanctioned vote because she has already left the country.
He agreed that the potential extradition of the former Fife university lecturer is a “matter for the Spanish authorities” as the MEP has indicated she will not move back to Scotland.
As he dismissed the case at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday Mr Ross said:
“Extradition in this case is impractical. You can’t extradite someone who is not here.”
The discharge was not opposed by the Crown’s lawyers, although they criticised a “clear breach of the position of trust that (Ms Ponsati) was in” over an alleged failure to tell the court she was resigning her post at St Andrews and moving to Belgium.
Prosecutor John Scott QC told Mr Ross it was “highly unsatisfactory” for Ms Ponsati not to return to Edinburgh for the legal hearing, and that the academic broke the bail conditions which allowed her to remain at liberty.
He said she failed to notify the Scottish authorities of her move to Belgium to take up her role as an MEP and her resignation from the post at St Andrews.
The Spanish Government wants Ms Ponsati to stand trial in the country on the charge of sedition – the illegal act of inciting people to resist or rebel against a government.
The charge relates to Catalonia’s October 2017 independence referendum – which the Madrid-based government deemed illegal and refused to sanction.
Ms Ponsati could be sentenced to 15 years if convicted, with nine other Catalan officials given jail sentences of between nine and 13 years for the same offence in autumn 2019.
In November 2019, Ms Ponsati – who was education minister in the Catalonian government at the time of the vote – was granted bail from the court. It was argued that she was not a flight risk, so was allowed to keep her passport.
Mr Scott told the court that the Crown now had “little option” but to support her legal team’s request to halt the action.
He said: “In January 2020 when Ms Ponsati became a member of the European Parliament, a decision was taken that it would not be appropriate for her to be prevented from taking her mandate as an MEP.
“The decision was taken on the understanding that Ms Ponsati would attend as required for any future extradition hearings in Scotland. No intimation was ever given of any change of address and no application was made to amend it.
“She also failed to intimate her decision to resign her post at the university, her most substantial link to Scotland. Ms Ponsati now refuses to return for any further hearings here in Scotland.
“The position of the Lord Advocate, on behalf of the Spanish judicial authority, is that these failures on the part of Ms Ponsati represent a clear breach of the position of trust that she was in.
“It is recognised that because of the conduct of Ms Ponsati – in breach of her position of trust and in breach of her conditions of bail – the Crown now has little option but to discharge her in respect of the current proceedings.”
Speaking after the case, Ms Ponsati’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said his client was convinced she would not receive a fair trial in Spain and thanked the “many people in Scotland, as well as those across Europe, who have given her so much support and solidarity.”