Spanish PM to be called as witness in academic's extradition hearing in Edinburgh

Lawyers fighting the extradition from Scotland of a former Catalan minister are planning to call the Spanish prime minister to give evidence at her hearing.

Clara Ponsati, a St Andrews University academic, was the education minister in Catalonia at the time of the unsanctioned independence referendum in 2017.

She faces a charge of sedition over her role in the event and is resisting a second attempt to extradite her for trial after an earlier bid was abandoned by the Spanish authorities.

The 62-year-old economist could face up to 15 years in jail if she is sent to her home country after nine other Catalan officials were given punitive sentences of between nine and 13 years, sparking major protests in Barcelona.

At a procedural hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court her lawyer Gordon Jackson QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said they would call senior figures from Spain's judiciary and political world to give evidence.

They will include the prime minister Pedro Sanchez, the former prime minister Mariano Rajoy and the former foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.

He said a key issue was whether Prof Ponsati would face a fair trial in Spain.

Mr Jackson added: "We intend to call senior figures from the judicial and political worlds in Spain, including the Prime Minister, former prime minister, former foreign minister and heads of political parties.

"We are very much on the line of the ability to get a fair trial, standing what has already been happening in related cases in Spain.

"There are people in jail in Spain in related cases. There is certainly going to be focus on the independence of the judiciary and the ability to get any fair trial for this woman if she goes back to Spain."

Speaking outside the court, where her supporters waved Catalan flags and banners, Prof Ponsati’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said: "Clara regards it as surreal that she is accused of treason when the Catalan Government executed a law democratically voted on in the Catalan Parliament elected by the Catalan people.

"A true democracy guarantees the absolute freedom of expression and politicians must be able to speak freely, independently and without fear of any form of prosecution or punishment.

"Spain claims that it is a modern democracy but with over half of the Catalan Government either in exile or in custody, the prosecutions are seen as a politically motivated attempt to criminalise the desire of independence of more than two million voters and endangering the very functioning of the rule of law."

Sheriff Nigel Ross set a date for a further procedural hearing at the court of January 23, with a full hearing expected to take place later next year.

Prof Ponsati was made director of the school of economics and finance at St Andrews University in 2016, before becoming a Catalan minister the following year.

She returned to Scotland last year after fleeing Spain with Carles Puigdemont, the deposed Catalan president.