Carles Puigdemont has not finished escaping a revengeful Spanish justice. Prosecuted by Madrid for sedition and embezzlement for almost four years and the abortive proclamation of the independence of Catalonia, the former mayor of Girona appeared on Monday before judges of the Court of Appeal of Sassari, in Sardinia, seized of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain with a view to his extradition.
He was arrested on September 23 on his arrival at Alghero airport to participate in a Catalan cultural festival, then released the next day, pledging to appear at Monday’s hearing. The three judges of the Sassari Court of Appeal have finally decided… not to decide anything and to wait until the appeals brought by the defense of Carles Puigdemont before the European justice system are successful.
In exile for 4 years
MEP since 2019, Puigdemont demands to regain his immunity as a MEP to oppose Spain’s extradition request. The European Parliament had deprived him of his immunity on March 9 by a vote by a large majority, a measure confirmed on July 30 by the General Court of the European Union. But the decision of the European Parliament is being appealed and the final judgment on the merits has not yet been delivered.
“It’s been four years since we arrived in exile” in Belgium, recalled the Catalan leader in the evening during a press conference in Alghero, the only Italian city of Catalan culture and language. “Since then, I have had to face three different jurisdictions, in Belgium, Germany and Italy”, countries in which he was arrested under the European arrest warrant issued by Madrid, then released. Each time, “Spain has failed in its political objectives,” he said.
The crime of sedition does not appear in the Italian penal code, which would make a possible extradition procedure very complex. His arrest in Italy also caused a stir in Spain, as the relationship between Madrid and Barcelona had pacified since the pardon granted in June to the nine separatist leaders sentenced to prison for their role in the 2017 secession attempt. ” It is time to say enough. Stop. Let us find a political solution, and not a judicial one, to this conflict, ”concluded Puigdemont in Sardinia.