Sassari court suspends Puigdemont's extradition trial until EGC ruling

SàsserSassari court has suspended former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont's extradition trial until relevant rulings are handed down by EU courts in Luxembourg. As explained by his Italian lawyer, Agostinangelo Marras, outside the court, the process remains on stand by until, on the one hand, the European General Court (EGC) decides whether to restore Puigdemont's immunity and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rules on pre-trial questions relating to Belgium's refusal to extradite former Catalan minister Lluís Puig.

Marras has explained that both the defence and the Italian prosecution have maintained the same position within the court, which was to put the ball in Luxembourg's court. Instead of defending the immediate extradition of Puigdemont as the Supreme Court wanted, then, the Italian prosecutor has opted for this path that places the resolution of the case in the courts of the European Union. The court of Sassari, which has been in the limelight in recent days in Catalan politics over Puigdemont's arrest and release, will cease to be news at least until the EGC rules on Puigdemont's immunity, after his defence requested restitution of parliamentary immunity as a precautionary measure.

Lawyer Marras has shown, in statements to the media, that he was calm with the decision, since Puigdemont has been released without precautionary measures and his immunity to travel to Italy as an MEP is acknowledged. The judge had already hinted at this decision on September 24 the when she released the former president after one night in Bancali prison.

After the statement, Puigdemont was released without precautionary measures accompanied by lawyer Marras and his lawyer, Gonzalo Boye. He had spent the whole morning in the courts: he arrived a few minutes after eleven in the morning with his team led by Josep Lluís Alay and did not leave the court premises until after three in the afternoon. Throughout the morning the delegations of Junts, Esquerra and the CUP have waited for the decision of the court. They have been supported by several Sardinian pro-independence parties that have moved to Sassari to support Puigdemont, as well as sovereigntists from Corsica who also wanted to be present at the meeting.