Catalonia's former leader Carles Puigdemont on Thursday said he hoped Spain will not overturn a court ruling restoring his immunity and that of two Catalan colleagues, all of whom sit in the European Parliament. The Luxembourg-based EU General Court on Wednesday issued that decision which suspends a March parliamentary order lifting the immunity of Puigdemont and former Catalan ministers Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati. The three are wanted in Spain on allegations of sedition following an attempt by the Catalan region to gain independence through a referendum that Madrid ruled was unconstitutional. "Restoring our immunity does not infringe on any right of Parliament. In fact, it is the opposite. by protecting the political rights of three of its members, it comes out to strengthen it. That is why we hope that they (Spain) will not oppose this decision," Puigdemont told a media conference held in the European Parliament building in Brussels. Comin added that "never before has the Luxembourg court given back -- even in a provisional manner -- the immunity of MEPs who lost it through a parliamentary decision. It's the first time, and it's a precedent." He noted though that the ruling now allowed the three to serve as MEPs "in all the (European) Union -- except in one country, which is Spain". The trio's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, said a final decision on the issue by the court would be made within a year and a half. Their arguments against the parliament's effort to strip them of immunity is based on technical and procedural challenges as well as claims of political persecution by Spain. ahg/rmb/ach