[VIDEO] Catalan police officers arrest MEP Clara Ponsatí after coming back from exile

Officers from the Catalan police forces, the Mossos d’Esquadra, have arrested MEP Clara Ponsatí as she walked to the Barcelona office of Junts i Lliures per Europa, her group at the European Parliament. Upon arrest, Ponsatí asked the officer who approached her whether he was sure of detaining an MEP, showing him her European Parliament badge. The officer, for his part, insisted to Ponsatí that she would have to follow her in order to take to carry to term the detention ordained by the Spanish Supreme Court. Having placed her in a nearby police car, the agents proceeded to take Ponsatí to the Ciutat de la Justícia, in the outskirts of Barcelona.

Although Ponsatí is protected from any criminal procedure by the immunity afforded to her as an MEP, the Spanish judiciary has put forth an arrest order against her for disobedience during the 1-O independence referendum on October 1st, 2017.

It is expected that Ponsatí will be taken before the judge in Barcelona, who will act as liaison for the Spanish Supreme Court. The judge will then reaffirm the charges against her for disobedience, and will subsequently summon to appear before judge Pablo Llarena at the Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid. Having relayed this information, the MEP is expected to be set free.

Watch the moment of Ponsatí’s arrest here: