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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