European Court Says Belgium May Have To Extradite Catalan Politicians To Spain

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Tuesday that Belgium can no longer refuse to extradite Catalan independence leaders to Spain based on its current legal arguments.

The ruling opens the door for the extradition of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and his former ministers, including Llus Puig and Antoni Comin.

They all escaped Spain in 2017 after leading an illegal independence referendum and a subsequent botched attempt to break Catalonia away from Spain.

Residing in Belgium, they have been able to dodge Spain's attempts to make them face justice in their home nation, as Belgian courts had refused to carry out the European Arrest Warrants against them.

However, the EU court ruled that Belgium, or any other member state, can only deny the extradition requests if it proves the extradition would lead to the violation of rights, such as that of a fair trial.