Puigdemont returns to Belgium after his express round trip to Barcelona, ​​according to his relatives

The day after his incredible reappearance in Barcelona, ​​the Catalan independence activist Carles Puigdemont is according to his relatives on Friday outside Spain, after having headed for Belgium, a new escape which raises questions and criticisms on the system put in place for to call him.

“He is returning to Waterloo,” Jordi Turull, the secretary general of his party Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), assured on Friday morning on Catalan radio Rac1, adding that he did not know if he had already arrived in this Belgian city near Brussels, where he spent most of his seven years in exile.

“I do not rule out the fact that this gentleman is still in Barcelona,” said the chief commissioner of the Catalan police, Eduard Sallent. “Until we have proof that he is outside the jurisdiction of the Mossos d'Esquadra, we will continue to look for him.”

Carles Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, had also previously declared on the same radio that his client was “outside” Spain, assuring that Carles Puigdemont himself would speak “today or tomorrow.”

Carles Puigdemont, who fled in 2017 to escape prosecution for his role in the failed secession attempt of the wealthy northeastern region of Spain, is still the target of an arrest warrant in Spain, despite the amnesty law negotiated by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in exchange for Junts' support for his government.

A central figure in Catalan independence, Mr. Puigdemont had announced his return to Catalonia on Thursday – where he had actually been since Tuesday, according to Mr. Turull – to take part in the investiture vote for the new president of the region.

He ultimately made do with a brief speech near Parliament in front of thousands of supporters, before slipping away discreetly, managing to thwart the police presence that was supposed to allow him to arrest.

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The Chief Commissioner of Catalan regional police force Mossos d'Esquadra, Eduard Sallent, during a press conference after the new flight of Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont, in Barcelona on August 9, 2024 © AFP – Josep LAGO

Since Thursday, this new leak has sparked an avalanche of criticism of the system put in place to try to arrest him.

As of Thursday, voices began to be raised to question in particular the role of the Catalan police, whose action had already been called into question at the time of the 2017 crisis, and two members of which were arrested, suspected of having helped the separatist to flee .

On Friday, Judge Pablo Llarena, who is investigating the case in which Carles Puigdemont is still subject to an arrest warrant in Spain, officially requested explanations from the Ministry of the Interior and the Mossos, whose officials defended their action at length at a press conference.

“At no time (…) did we negotiate or agree anything with Carles Puigdemont or his entourage,” insisted Eduard Sallent, the chief commissioner of the Mossos, assuring that everything was ready to arrest the Catalan leader near Parliament, where he ultimately never went.

“The events unfolded very quickly,” the police officer also argued, recalling that upon his arrival, Carles Puigdemont was “surrounded by a crowd of people and authorities from this country (Catalonia, editor's note), people who hold public office (…) with the aim of hindering the action of the police.”

Having left in a car that the Mossos quickly lost track of, he was then searched for by a large police force deployed in Barcelona and in Catalonia.

“We had drawn up a plan in which Mr Puigdemont really wanted to participate in the investiture session, an element that, in light of our investigations and the facts that have taken place, has now been clearly ruled out,” the police officer added.

At the national level, the new episode in the Puigdemont saga has sparked the ire of the right-wing and far-right opposition, which has castigated the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

“What happened yesterday is unspeakable and cannot go unpunished. (…) Faced with this farce, the government cannot continue to take a vacation by making fun of the Spanish people,” the leader of the Popular Party (right) Alberto Nunez Feijoo launched on X, calling in particular for the resignation of the Minister of the Interior.

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