- Puigdemont: Back in Belgium with the new President
Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan separatist leader wanted on an arrest warrant, has reportedly returned to his Belgian exile after his appearance in Barcelona. "I'm back in Waterloo after a few very difficult days," the 61-year-old wrote on the X platform in the evening. He had covered "thousands of kilometers" in a few days and needed some rest. Puigdemont did not comment on his political future.
At the same time, the politician wanted in Spain criticized the Catalan security authorities for conducting a "witch hunt" against people close to him in Catalonia. Earlier, the general secretary of Puigdemont's Junts party, Jordi Turull, had said that Puigdemont was back in Belgium. The Catalan police had previously stated that they did not know where Puigdemont was and cast doubt on Turull's statement.
Puigdemont described the massive manhunt that was triggered after his disappearance following a brief speech to supporters in the center of Barcelona on Thursday as completely disproportionate. This has only burdened innocent citizens and wasted public funds. He accused the Catalan police unit Mossos d'Esquadra, a kind of national police, of acting like the Spanish police.
The leadership of Mossos d'Esquadra admitted at a press conference together with Catalonia's interior minister Joan Ignasi Elena that there had been a failure in the arrest of Puigdemont in Barcelona. However, the minister stressed that no one could have foreseen Puigdemont's "inappropriate" behavior.
After his speech, Puigdemont did not go to the parliament as announced, where the socialist Salvador Illa was to be elected as the new president of Catalonia. Illa is the first regional government chief in Barcelona who is against the secession of the region from Spain.
Instead, Puigdemont got into a car and drove off to an unknown destination. He was reportedly helped by two police officers who were arrested. The police set up roadblocks and thousands of drivers were stuck in kilometer-long traffic jams in the high summer heat.
In the X post, Puigdemont reiterated that he had never intended to surrender or facilitate his arrest because he is being persecuted for political reasons and the amnesty law should also apply to him. However, the Spanish investigating judge Pablo Llarena accuses Puigdemont of embezzling public funds for his own benefit in 2017 in connection with the independence referendum, which is not covered by the amnesty.
The Spanish authorities expressed their displeasure over Puigdemont's return to Belgium, as he is still wanted on an arrest warrant for his role in the 2017 independence referendum. The Government of Belgium, however, maintains its stance of granting asylum to Puigdemont, stating that his political actions do not constitute a criminal offense.
