The European Parliament has voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and two other separatists.

Puigdemont’s legal team plans to appeal against the loss of his immunity at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The ex-Catalan leader and his two colleagues condemned the vote at a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday.

“It is a sad day for the European Parliament. We have lost our immunity but the European Parliament has lost more than that, and as a result, European democracy too. This is a clear case of political prosecution. They (Spanish political leaders) say it is a judicial process, that there is a separation of powers, but it is driven by a higher intensity political and parliamentary strategies - and now the European Parliament has unfortunately fallen into this strategy”, - Puigdemont said.