- Title: Catalan separatists receive temporary accreditation as EU lawmakers
- Date: 20th December 2019
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FORMER CATALAN REGIONAL PRESIDENT, CARLES PUIGDEMONT, AND FORMER CATALAN LEADER, TOMI COMIN, ARRIVING AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PUIGDEMONT SPEAKING TO PRESS AS HE WALKS TO ACCREDITATION CENTRE PUIGDEMONT WALKING TOWARDS ACCREDITATION CENTRE VARIOUS PUIGDEMONT WAITING FOR BADGE IN ACCREDITATION CENTRE PUIGDEMONT AND COMIN SHOWING TEMPORARY ACCREDITATION BADGE FOR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, PEOPLE CLAPPING PUIGDEMONT SPEAKING TO PRESS BADGE FOR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER CATALAN REGIONAL LEADER, CARLES PUIGDEMONT, SAYING: "More than one million people voted for us. When that many people vote for you, when you have the right to present yourself on a list and people vote for you, the consequence, which should be undisputable, is this (the badge of the European Parliament). It took six months, but now we are here and we are going to be worth the badge by defending our rights." PUIGDEMONT WALKING TOWARDS PARLIAMENT PUIGDEMONT AND COMIN WALKING INTO PARLIAMENT PUIGDEMONT AND COMIN PREPARING TO GIVE STATEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER CATALAN REGIONAL LEADER, CARLES PUIGDEMONT, SAYING: "It is a very nice feeling (to have a temporary accreditation as EU lawmaker) because it is the culmination of a term, of the feeling that we should have done this several months ago already. We have been treated very cordially by the staff of the European Parliament, who have explained to us what the administrative itinerary was that we were going to follow. And we would like to thank them for their interest in normalising the situation, which should never have been subjected to this legal ordeal." PUIGDEMONT AND COMIN SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER CATALAN REGIONAL LEADER, CARLES PUIGDEMONT, SAYING: "My wish is to visit Catalonia again very soon, as soon as possible. We'll see. But of course, as you can imagine, one of my best wishes is to visit my family, my mother, after the death of my father last month. I think it's not out of sense to imagine (that) I want to return home. It doesn't mean I will return tomorrow. We'll see." EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING
- Embargoed: 3rd January 2020 13:29
- Keywords: Antoni Comin Carles Puigdemont Catalan Catalan separatist leaders Catalonia EU Junqueras Member of the European Parliament Spain temporary accreditation
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAS6XQF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Catalan separatist leaders Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comin received temporary accreditation as members of the European Parliament on Friday (December 20), a day after the European Union's highest court issued a ruling with favorable implications for them.
Previously unable to collect their credentials due to fears of being arrested by Spain, the two politicians, who live in self-imposed exile in Belgium, would get full accreditation in January 2020 at the earliest, a chamber's spokeswoman said.
The decision stems from Thursday's (December 19) ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) saying that imprisoned separatist leader Oriol Junqueras was entitled to immunity as an MEP after being elected in May.
Puigdemont and Comin also won European Parliament seats in May but fears of returning to Spain, where they face arrest warrants, prevented them from taking their oaths and collecting their MEP credentials.
"We are at the place where we should have been six months ago," Puigdemont told reporters inside the European Parliament, where he and Comin collected their badges.
The former Catalan regional government president said he hoped to take part in the next parliamentary session and criticised the Spanish judiciary, which he said was not independent and could not guarantee the defense of their rights.
(Production: Clement Rossignol, Bart Biesemans) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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