Professor at Scottish university faces extradition to Spain for role in Catalan referendum

Clara Ponsatí, now head of the school of economics and finance at the University of St Andrews, has been charged with rebellion and misuse of public funds in her home country.

Spain issued a European Arrest Warrant for Ms Ponsatí and seeks her return to face trial on the charges, which are linked to the independence referendum organised by the Catalan government last October in defiance of rulings by the Constitutional Court of Spain.

Ms Ponsatí’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, maintains that the prosecution is “political” and will argue that the Spanish courts cannot “guarantee independence, human rights or justice”. A crowdfunding campaign on CrowdJustice has so far raised over £100,000 for her legal costs.

Other senior figures from the former Catalan government have been apprehended across Europe on the foot of EAWs issued by Spain, including former president Carles Puigdemont in Germany.

Their supporters argue that the ex-ministers should not be extradited because they will not receive a fair trial in Spain, hoping for a repeat of a recent Irish court ruling in which a man’s extradition to Poland was referred to the EU courts over concerns about the rule of law in Poland.

Switzerland, which is not part of the EAW system, has refused a request to extradite former Catalan MP Anna Gabriel on the basis that the request was linked to political crimes that have no basis in Swiss law.

However, experts believe Ms Ponsatí’s charge of rebellion closely resembles the existing criminal offence of treason in Scots law.

Ms Ponsatí will appear before Edinburgh Sheriff Court for an initial extradition hearing this afternoon.