St Andrews University has described an attempt by Spanish judges to extradite a Catalan academic as a politically motivated attack on free speech.

Prof Sally Mapstone, the principal of St Andrews, said the university was deeply concerned by the extradition application issued on Friday against Clara Ponsatí, an economist at the university.

A former head of St Andrews school of economics, Ponsatí was education minister in Carlos Puigdemont’s Catalan government when it organised an illegal independence referendum last year.

She is one of five former ministers named in European arrest warrants issued by Spain’s supreme court on Friday. Puigdemont was arrested by German police on Sunday under one warrant, prompting protests across Catalonia.

After returning to St Andrews this month to resume her post as an economics researcher, Ponsatí is due to voluntarily attend a police station in Edinburgh on Wednesday where she is likely to be detained before a preliminary court appearance that day.

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As condemnation of Spain’s actions grew to include implied criticism from Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, Mapstone said: “Clara is a valued colleague and we are committed to protect and support her.

“As her employer and an institution committed to the defence of free speech, we are deeply concerned by recent developments, their motives and potential consequences.

“In the current circumstances, we believe there are legitimate arguments that Clara is being targeted for standing up for her political beliefs. That is anathema to us, and we will continue to offer her every appropriate support, while respecting due legal process.”

Meanwhile, Catherine Stihler, a former rector of St Andrews and a Labour MEP for Scotland, wrote to Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, urging him to condemn Spain’s use of European arrest warrants in a political dispute.

Stihler said people had a right to self-determation, which was upheld by the treaty of the United Nations, and using an EU-wide legal process to help suppress internal political opponents risked damaging the bloc’s reputation for upholding those rights.

“I urge the commission to ensure the fundamental human rights of these individuals are respected when they come to face trial and that European arrest warrants are proportionately used where there is a significant risk to the public– such as terror-related incidents – and not with the intent to settle domestic political disputes,” she said.

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Ponsatí’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said she would resist the application as they had serious doubts she would receive a fair trial and that Scottish courts do not recognise the offence of sedition she is being accused of.

“I am instructed to oppose the extradition on the basis that this is a political prosecution of Clara and a systematic attempt to criminalise the desire for independence by more than 2 million voters in Catalonia,” he said.

The full extradition case is due to take place some weeks later, and it is expected Anwar will apply for bail.

“We will submit there are no guarantees of due process in Spain, of a right to a fair trial in a country where most members of the Catalan government are already in prison or in exile. If returned we submit she will be subjected to degrading and inhumane treatment by the Spanish authorities.”

Speaking to the BBC several weeks ago, Ponsatí said: “It will be interesting to see how they argue such a request because the alleged crimes of sedition and rebellion do not exist either in Scotland or in England and Wales.

“But if they do then I would face justice and see what judges have to say here. I trust they will not be accepted but one never knows.”

Sturgeon distanced her government from the case on Sunday, insisting that she could have no role in the legal process, despite calls from nationalist activists for her to intervene.

She tweeted: “I know that many will wish that @scotgov was able to do or say more – I understand that. But I hope there can also be an understanding of the position as outlined and the importance of protecting due process and the independence of our legal system.”