17. Juni 2019

Letter on political rights of elected MEPs Puigdemont, Junqueras and Comín

Rasmus Andresen > Aktuelles > Letter on political rights of elected MEPs Puigdemont, Junqueras and Comín

Dear Bureau Members of the European Parliament,

Newly elected MEPs Carles Puigdemont, Antoni Comín and Oriol Junqueras, have been prevented from taking office as Members of the European Parliament by the Spanish authorities after the European election on 26th of May. The list led by Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comín received 1.025.411 votes, and the list led by Oriol Junqueras received 1.257.484 votes.

On 14th of June 2019, elected MEP Oriol Junqueras –in pre-trial detention for 593 days for having organized the Catalan self-determination referendum in 2017– has been banned by the Spanish Supreme Court to leave the prison in order to take the MEP credential. Furthermore, on the 13th of June 2019, the Spanish Electoral Board imposed elected MEPs Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comín – in exile since October 2017 – to be personally in Madrid in order to take their seats as MEPs.

The decisions taken by the Spanish authorities banning newly elected MEPs from taking office and attending to the European Parliament’s constitutive plenary session on the 2nd July 2019 are a clear violation of their political rights and a disregard of more than 2 million European citizens that voted
for them.

These acts of the Spanish authorities attempt against the political rights of the MEP-elected Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras, Antoni Comín and more than 2 million European citizens that voted for them. An unacceptable breach of the Rules of Procedures of the European Parliament, the consolidated Treaties of the EU, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It is clear that the intention of these decisions are to prevent the concerned MEPs to be granted all the rights and freedoms as European representatives and, at the same time, to avoid any debate in the European Parliament that might put into question the judicial trial against the Catalan political and social leaders.

For all the above-mentioned reasons, we urge you:

  • to recognise and protect the political rights of Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras and Antoni Comín and those of the 2.2 million people that voted for them;
  • to call on the Spanish Electoral and Judiciary Authorities to respect the results of the European Elections and recognise and respect the right of the aforementioned elected MEPs to immunity and to hold office.

Yours sincerely,

  1. MEP Tim Aker
  2. MEP Christian Allard
  3. MEP Martina Anderson
  4. MEP Rasmus Andresen
  5. MEP Margrete Auken
  6. MEP Pernando Barrena
  7. MEP Izaskun Bilbao
  8. MEP David Borrelli
  9. MEP Geert Bourgeois
  10. MEP José Bové
  11. MEP Lynn Boylan
  12. MEP Damien Carême
  13. MEP Matt Carthy
  14. MEP Ellie Chowns
  15. MEP Jakop Dalunde
  16. MEP Dennis De Jong
  17. MEP Petra De Sutter
  18. MEP Karima Delli
  19. MEP Mark Demesmaeker
  20. MEP Özlem Demirel
  21. MEP Cornelias Ernst
  22. MEP Jill Evans
  23. MEP Daniel Freund
  24. MEP Enrico Gasbarra
  25. MEP Iveta Grigule-Pēterse
  26. MEP José Gusmão
  27. MEP Ian Hudghton
  28. MEP Anneli Jäätteenmäki
  29. MEP Yannick Jadot
  30. MEP Assita Kanko
  31. MEP Patrick Le Hyaric
  32. MEP Magid Magid
  33. MEP António Marinho e Pinto
  34. MEP Marisa Matías
  35. MEP Aileen McLeod
  36. MEP Gesine Meißner
  37. MEP Tilly Metz
  38. MEP Martina Michels
  39. MEP Luke Ming Flanagan
  40. MEP Ana Miranda
  41. MEP Miroslavs Mitrofanovs
  42. MEP Liadh Ní Riada
  43. MEP Ralph Packet
  44. MEP Manu Pineda
  45. MEP Sira Rego
  46. MEP Diana Riba
  47. MEP Michèle Rivasi
  48. MEP Maria Eugenia Rodríguez Palop
  49. MEP Catherine Rowett
  50. MEP María Dolores Sánchez Caldentey
  51. MEP Mounir Satouri
  52. MEP Martin Schirdewan
  53. MEP Helmut Scholz
  54. MEP Molly Scott Cato
  55. MEP Alyn Smith
  56. MEP Jordi Solé
  57. MEP Barbara Spinelli
  58. MEP Bart Staes
  59. MEP Helga Stevens
  60. MEP Tineke Strik
  61. MEP Josep-Maria Terricabras
  62. MEP Yana Toom
  63. MEP Estefania Torres Martinez
  64. MEP Marie Toussaint
  65. MEP Ramon Tremosa
  66. MEP Miguel Urbán
  67. MEP Ernest Urtasun
  68. MEP Ivo Vajgl
  69. MEP Bodil Valero
  70. MEP Anneleen Van Bossuyt
  71. MEP Johan Van Overtveldt
  72. MEP Marie-Pierre Vieu
  73. MEP Idoia Villanueva Ruiz
  74. MEP Nikolaj Villumsen
  75. MEP Tatjana Ždanoka
  76. MEP Gabriele Zimmer