Puigdemont back Belgium after evading Spanish police
Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has evaded Spanish police and is either back Belgium, he announced via social media.
Puigdemont, the former Catalan president and figurehead of the region’s independence movement, appeared in Barcelona on Thursday where he gave a speech before disappearing.
He returned on the day that the Catalan parliament was voting on Socialist Salvador Illa becoming regional president.
Two officers were arrested on Thursday, accused of helping Puigdemont with his escape.
Puigdemont had not set foot on Spanish soil since 2017 when authorities ordered his arrest for organising Catalonia’s independence referendum. That warrant remains active.
He faces charges of embezzlement for his part in the attempt to break Catalonia away from the rest of Spain in 2017.
In 2017, he evaded authorities by sneaking out of Spain and found refuge in Waterloo, Belgium.
From there, Puigdemont led the Catalan independence movement on the international stage – becoming a member of the European Parliament in 2019.
