According to the general secretary of his party Junts, the Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who is wanted on an arrest warrant, has already left for Belgium after his lightning visit to Barcelona on Thursday. His plan is to continue working from Waterloo, general secretary Jordi Turull told the Catalan radio station RAC1. Puigdemont had already been in Barcelona since Tuesday evening. At a press conference, the Catalan police asked for understanding for the failure of the planned arrest of Puigdemont.
Puigdemont’s lawyer Gonzalo Boye had previously stressed that his client was back outside Spain. Puigdemont had lived in Belgium for most of the time since he fled abroad on October 30, 2017, following the failed secession of Catalonia from Spain that he had pushed for. Most recently, he had also spent time in the south of France.
Lawyer with his own view on the fighting speech and disappearance
Boye had made a rather succinct statement about the commotion the previous evening. He described his client’s return to Barcelona the day before from almost seven years of exile, his short speech in front of thousands of supporters and his subsequent disappearance under the watchful eyes of the press and the police as a normal day at work. “He did his political work and went home when he was done, like everyone else does,” he told journalists. In any case, Puigdemont will “never turn himself in.”
The leadership of the Catalan police admitted a failure in the arrest of Puigdemont in Barcelona. At the same time, Chief Commissioner Eduard Sallent asked for understanding for the actions of the security forces at a press conference. The most important goals on Thursday were to maintain public order and to secure the election of a new Catalan Prime Minister in the parliament in Barcelona, said Sallent. These tasks were fulfilled. Why Puigdemont’s arrest was not successful still needs to be analyzed in more detail.
Police had prepared incorrectly
Sallent confirmed that the police had assumed in their planning that Puigdemont would go to parliament on Thursday, as he had repeatedly announced. That is why the appropriate police forces were stationed there. “This seemed to us the best place for an arrest,” said Sallent.
In fact, after his speech, which lasted just under four minutes, Puigdemont was taken to a vehicle by helpers behind the stage and driven away. “It all happened very quickly and our officers were unable to intervene because of a wall of people,” said Sallent.
Puigdemont was accompanied by representatives of the state, parliament and many supporters during his brief appearance, which made arrest even more difficult. In addition, two police officers helped Puigdemont, who were later arrested.
Catalonia’s Interior Minister criticises Spanish judge
Catalonia’s Interior Minister, Joan Ignasi Elena, severely criticized the Spanish justice system. There is an “abnormal situation” in which a judge refuses to apply an amnesty law to the people for whom it was made, the minister said at the press conference.
Without mentioning him by name, the minister referred to the Spanish investigating judge Pablo Llarena. He accuses Puigdemont of embezzling public funds for his own benefit in connection with the independence referendum in 2017 by financing his illegal political goals with public money instead of paying for them out of his own pocket. However, embezzlement for personal gain is excluded from the amnesty. The judicial clarification of the correct interpretation of the amnesty law is likely to take months.
