Fight against extradition from Scotland continues as Spanish charges against Clara Ponsati described as "a grotesque distortion of the truth"

A two-week hearing is to be held from 30 July over whether a former Catalan minister should be extradited from Scotland to Spain. The date was set after Clara Ponsatí appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for the latest hearing in her fight against extradition. The Spanish government is seeking her extradition over her involvement in last year's Catalan independence referendum. Clara Ponsati's lawyer has described the Spanish charges against her as "a grotesque distortion of the truth" and "politically motivated" and which would be challenged "robustly".

The use of the European Arrest Warrant in this case on the charge of rebellion is in total disregard of the UN Charter-based principle of the right of self-determination of peoples. The St Andrews University professor could face up to 33 years in prison if she is sent for trial in Spain. It also very clear that a fair trial cannot be guaranteed under a Spanish judicial system which is mired in the mindset of the years of Francisco Franco (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) who ruled over Spain as fascist military dictator from 1939 until his death in 1975. 

The spectacle of Spanish security forces violently attacking Catalan people exercising their democratic right to vote in last years referendum in Catalonia shocked the world. It is the Spanish government that needs to answer for their own crimes, not Catalan pro-independence politicians and their supporters. The fight against Clara Ponsati's extradition from Scotland to Spain continues to gain increased support throughout Scotland.