Catalan separatist Puigdemont leaves Spain after avoiding arrest, ally says

9/8/2024 16:51

        Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont was on his way back to Belgium on Friday, having appeared at a rally in central Barcelona despite an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Spain, his party's general secretary said on Friday.
        
        Jordi Turull told RAC1 radio that he did not know whether Puigdemont had already reached his home in Waterloo, where he has lived for seven years in self-imposed exile since leading a failed bid for Catalonia's secession in 2017.
        
        He is wanted in Spain on suspicion of embezzlement related to a 2017 independence referendum, ruled illegal by the Spanish courts. Puigdemont says the vote was legal and therefore the charges linked to it have no basis.
        
        "He did not come to be arrested in Spain but to exercise his political rights."