The doubts that Belgian courts convey to Llarena on the handing over of Sr. Puig and Sra. Serret

This is an English translation (I hope they don't mind!) of an article published on  http://www.ccma.cat/324/els-dubtes-que-la-justicia-belga-planteja-a-llarena-per-a-lentrega-de-puig-i-serret/noticia/2854436/.

***** Click below on "Més informació" to read the whole post *****

08/05/2018 - 17.59

Updated 09/05/2018 - 08.11

A new setback for judge Llarena. In a text addressed to the Supreme Court on April 12, the Belgian public prosecutor's office informed the Supreme Court that they had doubts about the handing over to Spain of former ministers for crimes of disobedience and corruption, and that a clear answer was expected.

The document, to which TV3 has gained access, in effect warns Llarena that the extradition for disobedience is practically impossible because there is no crime there. Meritxell Serret and Lluís Puig are accused of a crime of disobedience and misuse of public funds.

• "Is the extradition limited to these two specific crimes by the suspects?
• "In this context, we can inform you immediately that disobedience, in any event, cannot give rise to an extradition, since this crime is not included in Belgium's legislation, which means that the principle of double typicality will not be fulfilled. This would imply that for Serret and Puig, the only remaining crime would be the misuse of public funds.
• "I can likewise inform you that, despite the interpretation that can be given in accordance with Spanish legislation, the generic crime of 'corruption' cannot be the basis for extradition. This qualification as a criminal act, in effect, clearly does not apply according to Belgian law, even in a generic way."

Llarena would have to focus only on the misuse of public funds, which Montoro denies having existed.

In the text sent to Llarena, the Belgian justice system raises doubts because his European arrest warrants are incompatible with his national warrants:

• "The text of the European arrest warrants is quite different from the text of the national orders. In fact, they are not compatible at all, which raises important questions in the light of the jurisprudence of the Bob-Dogi affair of the European Court of Justice."

And it raises other doubts because, with the same description of the facts, it raises different offences for Puig and Serret and for Toni Comín, who is accused of crimes of rebellion and misuse of public funds. 

• "The new European arrest warrants mention only two kinds of criminal offence for the suspects. These qualifications also differ between suspects, though they are based on the same description of the facts."

Faced with all of this, the magistrate admits that he cannot determine the extent of extradition: 

• "At this moment, we cannot, without a doubt, determine the scope of the extradition requested by Spain."

The Belgian courts postponed until May 16 the preliminary hearing to study ther extradition requests for Antoni Comín, Lluís Puig and Meritxell Serret.

Meritxell Serret and Lluís Puig, along with Toni Comín, were released on April 5, with the obligation of being localised and of having their residence in Brussels, and with the ban of leaving the country.