Tuesday 27 March 2018

The Scottish Parliament should offer Clara Ponsati asylum in Holyrood .


  1. Former Catalan education minister  will fight an international order for her extradition to Spain from Scotland, arguing that as a secessionist leader she is not guaranteed a fair trial, her lawyer said on Monday.The European arrest warrant was one of a series issued to leaders of Catalonia's independence movement on charges of rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state.

    Lawyer Aamer Anwar told BBC radio
    .
    "This is a political persecution, a systematic attempt to criminalise the desire for independence," We believe that if she is sent back to Spain then she will suffer inhuman and degrading treatment, that the independence of the judiciary in Spain cannot be guaranteed."

    Ponsati, who is a professor at Scotland's University of St. Andrews, will present herself at court in Edinburgh and will apply for bail,

    The case is being closely watched in Scotland, where the nationalist devolved government said on Sunday that although it supports Catalonia's right to self-determination, it would respect the judicial process.


    Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said she supported the right of the Catalan people to determine their own future but the Scottish authorities were obliged to follow due process and ministers were not permitted to intervene.

    She added:
     
     "We strongly oppose the Spanish government's decision to seek the arrest and imprisonment of independence supporting politicians.

    "The fact that our justice system is legally obliged to follow due process in the determination of extradition requests does not change those views."

    Though this is a reserved matter and it will be Westminster that decide ,  This is a bit of a cop out Ms Sturgeon should have indicated that if her Government  was in a position to do so, it would not agree to carry it out.


1 comment:

East Neuker said...

I agree with you, but unfortunately don't believe that the Scottish government will have the guts to intervene in any way.