Former Catalan Prime Minister Puigdemont – World – PRAVDA.sk detained in Sardinia

Former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont, who has been living in exile in Belgium since 2017 after a failed attempt to declare Catalonia independent, was detained in Italy on Thursday. His lawyer announced it.

TASR

24.09.2021 06:56, updated: 17:12

Protesters hold a banner with a portrait of former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont in front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg

Puigdemont’s lawyer, Gonzalo Boy, wrote on Twitter that his client was “detained after arriving in Sardinia, where he arrived as a Member of the European Parliament”. According to the lawyer, the separatist leader was arrested on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in October 2019.

The judge ordered the release of Puigdemont

A judge on the Italian island of Sardinia on Friday ordered the release of former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont, who was detained by police on Thursday in the city of Alghero in Sardinia on the basis of an international arrest warrant. However, according to the decision of Judge Pliny Azzen, Puigdemont must remain on the island until a decision is taken on his possible extradition to Spain. This was reported by the Italian agency ANSA.

The judge did not consider the detention of Puigdemont illegal, but at the same time she said there was no reason to use such measures against the former head of the Catalan government.

Puigdemont’s office explained that on Thursday afternoon he traveled from Brussels to Alghero, where he was to take part in the international exhibition Adifolk and meet with the regional leader of Sardinia and the local ombudsman.

“When we arrived at Alghero airport, he was stopped by the Italian border police. Tomorrow, he will be available to the judges of the Court of Appeal in Sassari, who will decide whether to release him or release him (Spain), “said the head of his office, Lluís Alay, on Twitter.

An arrest warrant has been issued in Spain for Puigdemont and two other MEPs living in exile. They were to do so in the context of the failed attempt to declare Catalonia independent, when they organized a referendum, which, according to Madrid, was unconstitutional.

However, the European Parliament, Puigdemont, as well as two other MEPs in favor of Catalonia’s independence – Antoni Comino and Clara Ponsati – were stripped of their immunity in 2019 in March.

At the end of June, the government in Madrid pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders, who were among 12 people convicted of participating in an illegal referendum and subsequent declaration of independence.

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