MADRID: A Spanish judge on Thursday dropped European and international arrest warrants for deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and other separatist leaders who fled abroad, meaning they no longer face detention or extradition.

This is the second time that Pablo Llarena of the Supreme Court has withdrawn such warrants over doubts whether other European countries would recognise the serious charge of rebellion levelled against prominent Catalans who were involved in a failed secession attempt last October.

In December, he had dropped European warrants against Puigdemont and other former members of Catalonia’s separatist executive, arguing Belgium — where they had fled to — could potentially reject some of the charges in the warrant. Llarena re-activated the arrest warrants in March.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2018