Spain’s Supreme Court again rejects suspending electoral board veto on Junqueras taking MEP seat

Spain’s Supreme Court has rejected Oriol Junqueras’ request to temporarily suspend the electoral board’s veto, which prevents him from taking his seat as an MEP.

On January 9 the court dismissed an initial plea from the former vice president requesting a precautionary suspension.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court argued that Junqueras’ criminal conviction was the "objective circumstance" that electoral authorities had taken into account when making their decision. This is despite an EU court saying that the jailed politician should be given immunity to attend the European parliament following his election.

The Supreme Court also rejected allegations made by Junqueras’ defense team that the electoral board did not have the authority to rule in this matter. They emphasized that one of the electoral board’s roles is to issue credentials when there is a parliamentary vacancy.

The ruling comes days after 70 of Junqueras’ fellow inmates wrote a letter to ask the Supreme Court to allow the jailed politician to take his seat as an MEP.