Almost four years after having tried to declare the independence of Catalonia, in 2017, and his flight abroad, the ex-Catalan president Carles Puigdemont - demanded by the Spanish justice - was arrested, Thursday, September 23, in Italy.
The independentist spent the night in prison in Sassari in Sardinia, where he was arrested.
He was going to Alghero, a Sardinian city of Catalan culture where he was to participate in a cultural festival and meet with elected officials from the Italian island.
The Spanish government, which still accuses the independence leader of sedition, calls for his immediate extradition.
A decision that must be decided by the Italian justice, which decided while waiting to release him on Friday.
Back on the journey of the one who has become the most famous face of Catalan independence.
Catalan self-determination referendum
Before his election to the presidency of Catalonia in 2016, Carles Puigdemont's only political experience was that of mayor of the independence stronghold of Girona, a city of 100,000 inhabitants.
Barely a year and a half after his arrival at the head of the Spanish region, this former journalist with the thick helmet of brown hair is organizing with his government, despite the ban on justice, a self-determination referendum.
Prohibited by justice, this referendum is held on October 1, 2017. It was legitimized upstream by a law passed on September 6, 2017 by independentist deputies.
The latter, in the majority in the regional parliament since 2015, are those who elected Carles Puigdemont at the head of Catalonia.
Independence supporters demonstrate in Barcelona on September 29, 2017, just before the referendum.
PIierre-Philippe Marcou, AFP.
The referendum does take place but it is punctuated by police violence, the images of which travel around the world.
The separatist government of Carles Puigdemont announces the victory of the "yes" at 90%.
Unverifiable results in the absence of tellers, because the electronic counting of ballots was blocked by the police.
A woman empties a ballot box at a polling station in Barcelona, Catalonia, during the independence referendum on October 1, 2017. AFP
Two days later, King Felipe VI calls for the restoration of constitutional order, while demonstrations are organized to denounce police violence, against the backdrop of a general strike in Catalonia.
Speaking on television, Carles Puigdemont then accuses the Spanish sovereign of ignoring the aspirations of the Catalans.
On October 4, 2017, Carles Puigdemont accuses the King of Spain of ignoring the aspirations of the Catalans during a televised address.
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Stillborn declaration of independence
A few weeks later, on October 27, 2017, 70 deputies out of the 135 of the Catalan parliament voted a unilateral declaration of independence which would go unheeded.
Madrid, where the conservative Mariano Rajoy is in power, immediately suspends Catalonia's autonomy, dismisses its government and dissolves parliament.
This stillborn declaration of independence marks one of Spain's worst crises since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975.
On November 2, eight members of the Catalan government, including its vice-president Oriol Junqueras, were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention.
Flight to Belgium
A European arrest warrant was issued in November 2017 against Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Brussels.
He settled in Waterloo, in the south of the country.
Carles Puigdemont in Brussels, Tuesday October 31, 2017, a few minutes before a press conference.
Nicolas Maeterlinck, Belga, AFP
By leaving Catalonia for Belgium to everyone's surprise, the former leader abandons many of his former "ministers", who will be arrested.
First arrest in Germany
The arrest of Carles Puigdemont in Italy is not a first.
The independentist was arrested for the first time in a European country, in Germany this time, in March 2018 at the request of Spain.
But he was released a few days later after the German justice dropped the charge of "rebellion" against him.
A banner reading "Free Puigdemont" in front of Neumuenster prison, in northern Germany, where Carles Puigdemont is being held, on March 26, 2018. © AFP
Condemnation of former independence leaders
In the absence of Carles Puigdemont opens, on February 12, 2019, the historic trial of twelve Catalan independence leaders for their role in the secession attempt.
On October 14, 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine of them, including Oriol Junqueras, the former vice-president of Puigdemont, to terms ranging from 9 to 13 years in prison.
Catalan demonstrators wave independence flags during the general strike in Catalonia, in Sant Just Desvern, October 18, 2019. Juan Medina, Reuters
As soon as the sentence was announced, thousands of Catalan activists took to the streets again, cut roads and railways and tried to paralyze Barcelona airport.
Clashes between demonstrators and the police rock Catalonia for several nights.
Lifting of parliamentary immunity
Sometimes accused by his detractors of "fugitive" or "coward", Carles Puigdemont continues to occupy the political field, in particular as a member of the European Parliament, where he was elected in 2019, with his party Together for Catalonia (JxC ).
But the European Parliament votes to lift Carles Puigdemont's parliamentary immunity in March 2021, paving the way for the possibility of extradition to Spain.
However, 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".
Presidential pardon for independence leaders
The nine separatists imprisoned in 2019 were pardoned in June 2021 by the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez.
Carles Puigdemont, on the other hand, did not benefit from this grace, the government still wanting him to be tried in Spain.
He remains prosecuted for "sedition" and "embezzlement of public funds".
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announces the pardon of a dozen Catalan separatist leaders in Barcelona on June 21, 2021 © Albert Gea, Reuters
Following this gesture, on September 15, 2021, negotiations resume between Madrid and the Catalan separatists, while the latter have strengthened their majority in the Parliament of Catalonia in recent months in early regional elections.
The new regional president of Catalonia, Pere Aragones, a separatist with a more moderate tendency than Carles Puigdemont is committed to calling for the organization of a self-determination referendum with Madrid, which remains fiercely opposed to it.
With AFP and Reuters
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