There are calls for the immediate release of jailed Catalan independence leader Oriol Junqueras  after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled he should have had immunity when elected as an MEP.

In October 2019, Junqueras, the leader of the Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana (ERC), was sentenced to 13 years in prison and disqualified from public office for his involvement in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum and embezzlement.

Before his conviction, Junqueras was held in pre-trial detention in Spain for four months, stopping him from swearing into office as an MEP, a representative in the European Parliament. The ECJ ruled on 19 December that Junqueras should have been given immunity once he was elected to allow him to travel for his MEP duties. 

The ECJ said: “The Court held…that the immunity as regards to travel granted to every Member of the European Parliament entails lifting any measure of provisional detention imposed prior to the declaration of that Member's election, in order to allow that person to travel to and take part in the inaugural session of the European Parliament.”

It is unclear what will happen now as the Spanish Supreme Court will have to accept the original appeal filed by Junqueras' defense team to enact the ECJ's ruling. This is despite the Spanish court's decision to keep Junqueras in pre-trail detention when he was originally elected as a MEP.

Junqueras's original party called for the “nullity of the trial and his immediate release" on twitter after the ruling earlier today.