Spain: Catalan independentist Carles Puigdemont arrested on his arrival in Italy
Catalan independentist Carles Puigdemont was arrested on Thursday 23 September 2021 upon his arrival in Sardinia (Illustrative image).
© Raymond Roig / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The pro-independence MEP and former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was arrested Thursday, September 23 in Italy, his lawyer announced.
He had been in exile in Belgium since 2017 after Catalonia's attempted secession the same year.
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President Puigdemont was arrested on his arrival in Sardinia, where he was going as an MEP,
" said his lawyer Gonzalo Boye on Twitter, explaining that his arrest had taken place on the basis of an arrest warrant European Union dating from October 14, 2019. The Catalan leader, 58, was arrested in Alghero, his chief of staff, Josep Lluis Alay, confirmed on Twitter.
El President Puigdemont @KRLS moved aquesta tarda to Alguer, proceed from Brussel síndic de l'Alguer.
- Josep Lluís Alay (@josepalay) September 23, 2021
“
On his arrival at Alghero airport, he was arrested by the Italian border police.
Tomorrow [Friday], the president will be presented to the judges of the Sassari Court of Appeal, which is competent to decide on his release or extradition,
”said Josep Lluis Alay.
He specified that Carles Puigdemont had gone to Alghero to participate in a cultural festival and to meet with elected officials from the Italian island.
Arrest as negotiations in Catalonia resume
The arrest in Italy of Mr. Puigdemont came a week after
the resumption of negotiations
between the left-wing Spanish government and the Catalan regional executive, the aim of which is to find a solution to the political crisis in Catalonia.
The European Parliament had lifted the parliamentary immunity of Carles Puigdemont and two other independentist MEPs on March 9 by a large majority (400 votes against 248), a measure which had been confirmed on July 30 by the General Court of the European Union. 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
".
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
".
Exiled in Belgium since the 2017 secession attempt 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 is tried in Spain.
Carles Puigdemont is being prosecuted for “
sedition
” and “
embezzlement of public funds
”.
First arrest in 2018
Main figure in the 2017 Catalonia secession attempt, Carles Puigdemont was immediately 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, Carles Puigdemont 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.
►Also read: Pedro Sanchez visiting Catalonia to try to resolve the political conflict
(With AFP)
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