Supporters turn out for former Catalan minister’s hearing
● Lawyer says arrest warrant was ‘politically motivated’
Former Catalan minister Professor Clara Ponsati outside Edinburgh Sherrif Court yesterday with her lawyer, Aamer Anwar, and supporters after an extradition hearing. Prof Ponsati faces charges of violent rebellion and misappropriation of public funds after Catalonia’s independence referendum
The former Catalan minister battling extradition yesterday claimed the Spanish authorities were guilty of an “abuse of power” as she vowed to fight the charges against her.
Professor Clara Ponsati made a preliminary appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday, at which two weeks in the summer were set aside for a formal extradition hearing.
In a statement made outside the court, Prof Ponsati’s lawyer, Aamar Anwar, claimed she had been the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.
Mr Anwar said Prof Ponsati “utterly refutes” the charges, saying she faced up to 33 years in prison if extradited, despite having never committed a criminal act in her life.
Mr Anwar said: “We intend to fight the extradition on many grounds, including fundamentally that the Spanish are guilty of an abuse of process.”
As a former member of the Catalan government, Prof Ponsati faces charges of violent rebellion and misappropriation of public funds relating to the independence referendum which was declared illegal by Madrid.
The hearing was held after Prof Ponsati voluntarily handed herself in at an Edinburgh police station last month. After an initial court appearance then, she was released on bail.
The academic had returned to Scotland earlier in March and resumed working at the University of St Andrews, where she teaches economics. The charges against her are contained in an extradition warrant from the Span- ish Supreme Court issued last month.
The case has attracted a huge amount of public support with more than £230,000 raised online to help her fight the extradition.
Yesterday, demonstrators waving Yes Scotland banners, Catalan flags and brandishing “You can’t have our Clara!” signs gathered outside the court to support her.
Mr Anwar said the European Arrest Warrant had been issued to prosecute the academic for her political opinions, adding that the crime of violent rebellion did not exist in the law of Scotland.
If extradited, he said his client would face a prejudiced trial, or be punished or detained or restricted in her personal liberty because of her political opinions.
He added that extradition was “oppressive” and incompatible with human rights.
“We will submit Spain has systematically abused the process of extradition treaty to set out allegations which they know cannot amount to crimes in their courts,” Mr Anwar said.
“In conclusion we believe that this warrant is a politically motivated prosecution of Clara. She is accused of orchestrating violence, yet the warrant fails in over 19 pages to ever specify a single act of violence or incitement attributable to her.
“Unsurprisingly there is no mention of the actions of several thousand Spanish police and 6,000 State Security Forces who are accused of carrying out brutal unprovoked attacks on peaceful Catalans at over 2,000 polling stations.
“In a civilised democracy police officers are the guardians of law and order, yet the Spanish police’s brutality on 1 October has been compared to the dark days of Francoism.
“To date not one single Spanish police officer has been arrested or prosecuted for their violent actions against a defenceless population and we submit the warrant is a grotesque distortion of the truth.”
He added: “Clara denies that public funds were used to finance the referendum and the warrant has failed to provide a scrap of evidence to back up the allegation.”
Mr Anwar said Prof Ponsati’s legal team was working with lawyers in Belgium, Spain, Catalonia and Germany, where last week a court rejected “rebellion” as grounds for the extradition of Catalonia’s former leader Carles Puigdemont from the country.
“The conduct of Spain will once more be subjected to the full glare of international scrutiny,” Mr Anwar added.
Earlier in the court room, Gordon Jackson QC told Sheriff Nigel Ross he intended to challenge the case on grounds including the validly of the warrant, the extraditability of the offences and his client’s human rights.
He said: “This is wrapping up in legalistic form something which is purely a political decision. It is an attempt to squeeze it into some legal formulae.”
Mr Jackson told the court there was a substantial amount of work still to be done on the case, and he expected to lead evidence from experts in Spanish law.
A date was fixed for a further procedural hearing on 15 May, for which Prof Ponsati’s legal team have been asked to produce a provisional case of argument setting out their position.
The two-week hearing will begin on 30 July.
“She is accused of orchestrating violence, yet the warrant fails in over 19 pages to ever specify a single act of violence or incitement attributable to her”
AAMER ANWAR