THE charges facing former Catalan Education Minister Carla Ponsati fall somewhere between irresponsible and absurd. The Spanish Government is seeking to extradite Ponsati on the basis that she was personally responsible for the welfare of 6,000 state security officials ordered by Madrid to prevent the October 1 independence referendum going ahead last year. Spain reasons that Ponsati is therefore culpable for injuries sustained to police officers during ensuing violence.

When human rights organisations like Amnesty International have been heavily critical of Spain’s use of force, it takes a real stretch of the imagination to pin responsibility on Ponsati. It should be noted that German courts rubbished the charge of “rebellion” against former president Carles Puigdemont.

Matters of democracy must be treated with respect. The Catalan crisis will find no resolution without both. A positive signal from Spain would be to retract its warrants and guarantee a safe legal environment for Catalan officials to return.