The European Parliament voted Tuesday to waive the immunity of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatist MEPs, Antoni Comin and Clara Ponsati, for their role in organizing a 2017 Independence referendum for the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Puigdemont’s immunity was lifted by 400 votes to 248, while those of Comin and Ponsati were removed by 404 votes to 247.

The three are subject to European arrest warrants issued by Spain, which is seeking their extradition for offences related to their role in organising a 2017 independence referendum deemed illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Following the referendum, the Spanish government retook control over Catalonia, forcing Puigdemont and his allies to flee to Belgium in 2017.

While exiled in Belgium, Puigdemont and Comin formally became members of the European Parliament in June 2019, while Ponsati, who is in self-imposed exile in Scotland, officially became an MEP from January 2020, enabling them to benefit from Parliamentary Immunity.

The vote comes after members of the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee approved a report last month that concluded that the immunity of Puigdemont and his two colleagues could be lifted since the alleged events had taken place before they had won their mandate as MEPs.

Spain is now expected to renew its European arrest warrant to ask for the extradition of the three Catalans from Belgium.