Some forty MEPs have presented an appeal to the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, calling for the chamber to protect the immunity of Catalan politicians Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras and Toni Comín, who were elected to seats in May's election that they haven't been able to take. The petition aims to force the Legal Affairs Committee to study the situation of the three MEPs-elect.

Specifically, they want the Parliament to confirm their "privileges and immunities" and demand that they can only be suspended "via a request from Spanish authorities".

The MEPs come from five different political groups. The request comes just days before a hearing in the Court of Justice next Monday on Junqueras' immunity, possibly even the same day Spain's Supreme Court will announce its verdict following his trial alongside eleven fellow pro-independence leaders earlier this year.