Clara Ponsatí claims human rights abuses are getting worse by the day in Spain

Clara Ponsatí, the former Catalan minister, “faces a real threat to her life” if she is extradited to Spain on charges of violent rebellion, her lawyer has said.

Professor Ponsatí is contesting a European arrest warrant issued by Spain for her role in the Catalan independence referendum last year. She has accused Madrid of human rights abuses and warned that they may be capable of further evil in their “relentless crusade to crush the Catalans’ will to be free”.

Aamer Anwar, her lawyer, said that Spain had not produced any charges which could be punished under Scots law, a key test for the courts in their extradition deliberations which are expected to continue for months.

Professor Ponsatí, who is on bail in St Andrews, said