Dropping warrants 'does not harm' image of Spanish justice, says government

The Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to withdraw the European Arrest Warrants it issued for Catalan political leaders abroad has done nothing to damage the image of Spain’s justice system, according to the Spanish government.

The spokeswoman for Pedro Sánchez’s executive, Isabel Celaá, said on Friday that judge Pablo Llarena’s decision to drop the extradition of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and some of his ministers was the result of “conversations between courts.”

After a German court rejected Puigdemont’s extradition for rebellion and only accepted the misuse of public funds charge, Supreme Court judge Llarena decided to withdraw the arrest warrants and criticized the Schleswig-Holstein regional court for a “lack of engagement.”