Scotland dismisses Spain bid to extradite Catalan official

LONDON (AP) — A Scottish court has dismissed extradition proceedings against a Catalan politician sought by Spain over Catalonia’s failed independence bid. Clara Ponsati was accused of sedition over her role as education minister in Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 effort to secede after a referendum that was not sanctioned by the Spanish government. She’s a former academic at the University of St. Andrews who won a seat in the European Parliament in 2019 and later moved to Brussels. Scottish judge Nigel Ross ruled Thursday that Scottish courts had “no jurisdiction” in the case because she had indicated she didn’t plan to return to Scotland. He said “you can’t extradite someone who is not here.”