The former president of Catalonia had sought refuge in that country in 2017, when he escaped from Spain to avoid being arrested for the Catalan independence attempt.
Catalan pro-independence politician Carles Puigdemontwho has been a fugitive from Spanish justice for seven years, announced through X (formerly Twitter) that he is in Belgiumafter his unexpected and fleeting appearance this Thursday in Barcelona
“Today I am in Waterloo“, a town near Brussels, “after some extremely difficult days,” wrote the former Catalan president, who had already settled in Belgium in 2017, when he fled Spain to avoid being captured for his participation in the failed secession of the region of Catalonia.
“It’s thousands of kilometres in a few days and many days of stress that are difficult to explain, and I trust that it is understandable that I still need a few hours to recover and get some air.”he said.
The appearance of Carles Puigdemont in Barcelona
After 7 years in exilethe leader of Together for Catalonia and former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemontreappeared this Thursday in Barcelona. He was present at the welcome event that his party organized for his return: “Today I have come here to remind you that we are still here, because we have no right to give up.“, said the Catalan leader.
In front of approximately 3,500 people, Puigdemont He gave a speech from a lectern on a stage set up in front of Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf. He was then expected to head to Parliament to attend the investiture ceremony. Salvador Illaalthough the police authorities did not see him in the group of leaders of his party that entered the Catalan chamber.
Through X, Puigdemont mocked the “appalling, incomprehensible and sometimes delirious police operation” deployed to try to arrest him.
“I have never had the will to surrender voluntarily or to facilitate my arrest because I find it unacceptable that I am being persecuted for political reasons and that, on top of that, “the amnesty law is not being applied”broad.
Despite the amnesty law for Catalan separatists indicted for the events of 2017, promoted by the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez in exchange for JxCAT’s support for its executive, The former Catalan president still carries an arrest warrant with him.
Source: Ambito
