European arrest warrant against Clara Ponsatí expected to be reissued

European arrest warrant against Clara Ponsatí expected to be reissued

Prosecutors in Spain are preparing to reactivate the European arrest warrant (EAW) issued against former Catalan government minister Clara Ponsatí, a professor at the University of St Andrews, in relation to a disputed 2017 independence referendum.

Professor Ponsatí, 62, took a secondment from the university to become education minister in the Catalan government in October 2017. A warrant against her was withdrawn in July last year.

Spanish daily newspaper ABC reported that prosecutors will ask Pablo Llorena, a Supreme Court judge, to reissue an EAW “in the next few days” on charges of sedition and misappropriation of public funds.

The vote, in which the separatists received a majority of 92 per cent, was declared illegal by Spain.

Last month, nine of 12 political and civil leaders were jailed for lengthy terms by the Supreme Court.

Professor Ponsatí said last week: “I am expecting another order of arrest being issued against me any day now.”

She said she would hand herself in to Scottish police, adding: “I don’t expect to go back to Spain. I have this faith in the Scottish system.”

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