Europe 1 with AFP 6:27 am, September 24, 2021
The pro-independence MEP and former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, in exile in Belgium since 2017 after Catalonia's attempted secession, was arrested in Italy on Thursday.
He was traveling to Sardinia as an MEP but a controversial European arrest warrant has targeted him since October 2019.
The pro-independence MEP and ex-Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, in exile in Belgium since 2017 after the attempted secession of Catalonia, was arrested Thursday in Italy, raising the risk of a new crisis between Madrid and Barcelona.
"President Puigdemont was arrested on his arrival in Sardinia, where he was traveling as an MEP," his lawyer Gonzalo Boye said on Twitter, explaining that his arrest had taken place on the basis of an arrest warrant European dated October 14, 2019.
Presented to the judges of the Court of Appeal of Sassari
The 58-year-old Catalan leader has been arrested in Alghero, his chief of staff, Josep Lluis Alay, confirmed on Twitter.
“On his arrival at Alghero airport, he was arrested by the Italian border police. On Friday, the president will be presented to the judges of the Sassari Court of Appeal, which is competent to decide on his release or his extradition "to Spain, said Josep Lluis Alay.
The new regional president of Catalonia, Pere Aragones, a separatist, but of more moderate tendency than Carles Puigdemont, immediately reacted on Twitter, "(strongly condemning) the persecution and this judicial repression".
"Enough. Amnesty is the only way. Self-determination the only solution. By your side Carles," said Pere Aragones.
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In Madrid, the Spanish government of socialist Pedro Sánchez expressed "its respect for the decisions of the Italian authorities and courts".
"The arrest of Carles Puigdemont corresponds to an ongoing legal procedure which applies to any EU citizen who must answer for his acts before the courts", said in a statement the palace of Moncloa, seat of the Spanish government , adding that Carles Puigdemont should "submit to the action of justice like any other citizen".
"Maximum alert"
Independence calls to demonstrate Friday, a public holiday in Catalonia, in front of the Italian consulate in Barcelona began to circulate on social networks, while a former regional president, Quim Torra, described as "catastrophic" a possible extradition of Carles Puigdemont towards Spain and called on the separatists to be "on maximum alert".
Josep Lluis Alay, Carles Puigdemont's chief of staff, said he had gone to Alghero to participate in a cultural festival and to meet with elected officials from the Italian island. The arrest in Italy of Carles Puigdemont came a week after the resumption of negotiations between the left-wing central government and the Catalan regional executive, the aim of which is to find a solution to the political crisis in Catalonia.
The European Parliament lifted the parliamentary immunity of Carles Puigdemont and two other pro-independence MEPs on March 9 by a large majority, a measure which was confirmed on July 30 by the EU General Court. But the decision of the European Parliament has been the subject of an appeal whose final judgment on the merits by the EU justice must be pronounced "at a later date". According to the interpretation of Carles Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, Parliament's decision is therefore "suspended".
Exiled in Belgium since the failed secession attempt of 2017 in order to escape prosecution by Spanish justice, Carles Puigdemont had not benefited from the pardon granted at the end of June to nine separatists imprisoned in Spain, the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez still wishing that he be tried in Spain.
He is being prosecuted for "sedition" and "embezzlement of public funds".
Major crisis
Main figure in the attempt to secede from Catalonia in 2017, Carles Puigdemont was dismissed by Madrid. He then fled to Belgium to escape Spanish justice, which in October 2019 sentenced several former members of his government team to prison for sedition. In March 2018, he was arrested for the first time at the request of Spain, in Germany this time. But he was released a few days later after the German justice dropped the charge of "rebellion" against him.
The attempted secession of Catalonia in October 2017 was one of the worst crises experienced by Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975. Despite the ban on justice, the regional government chaired by Carles Puigdemont had organized a self-determination referendum punctuated by police violence and followed, a few weeks later, by a stillborn declaration of independence.
The Spanish government, then led by the conservatives, reacted by putting the region under trusteeship and arresting the main leaders of the movement who had not fled abroad.