MADRID (AP) — Spanish courts have overruled a decision by Spain's Electoral Board and have determined that Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatists who fled abroad to escape arrest must be allowed to run in this month's European Parliament elections.

Spain's Electoral Board had said it would prohibit the three from running in the May 26 race to fill Spain's allotted seats at the parliament in Strasbourg.

But three separate courts in Madrid ruled on Monday in favor of appeals filed by Puigdemont and his two cohorts, who argued that their democratic rights were being violated.

All three separatists fled Spain to avoid arrest for participating in Catalonia's failed secession attempt in 2017. Puigdemont and Toni Comín reside in Belgium, and Clara Ponsatí in the U.K. They are still wanted in Spain.