Catalonia's Puigdemont to attend October extradition hearing

ALGHERO – Catalan separatist person Carles Puigdemont vowed Saturday to support travelling passim Europe to run for the region's independency from Spain but confirmed helium would look astatine an Oct. 4 proceeding to determine whether helium volition beryllium extradited to Spain to look sedition charges.

Puigdemont, a subordinate of the European Union's parliament who antecedently served arsenic president of Spain's restive Catalonia region, struck a defiant code during a property league 48 hours aft helium was arrested upon his accomplishment successful Sardinia to be a Catalan taste festival and past freed.

The Sardinian justice who released him imposed nary question restrictions pending the Oct. 4 extradition hearing, suggesting Puigdemont had a greenish airy to permission Italy and adjacent the case. But Piugdemont said Saturday helium would be the hearing, “answer each the questions the justice volition inquire me," and assumed helium would locomotion free.

“My program is erstwhile the Italian justness says OK, your work is finished, I volition instrumentality to my location successful Belgium," helium said.

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Puigdemont and a fig of his separatist colleagues fled to Belgium successful October 2017, fearing apprehension aft holding an independency referendum for Catalonia that the Spanish courts and authorities said was illegal.

Members of his entourage called his high-profile apprehension and speedy merchandise a governmental “boomerang" for Spain, which earlier this period restarted talks with the determination enactment of Catalonia aimed astatine resolving the governmental situation that has persisted since the referendum.

Puigdemont vowed to support travelling passim Europe to property his origin and said the erstwhile 2 days had proved that helium enjoyed the enactment of European judicial institutions.

“All that has happened successful the past hours beryllium each of our arguments, each of our reasons successful our combat for freedom, for ideology to support the close of aforesaid determination, and the close to escaped speech, escaped movement, the close to beryllium engaged successful politics," helium said.

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“The lone transgression we committed was organizing a referendum," helium added.

At the bosom of the contiguous ineligible substance is whether the warrant issued by Spain seeking Puigdemont’s apprehension is valid. Gonzalo Boye, his lawyer, has insisted the European warrant issued successful 2019 that provided the ground for Italian authorities to detain him had been suspended.

The Spanish Supreme Court justice handling the case, Pablo Llarena, sent a missive to the European Union’s Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation stating that the apprehension warrant was “in force."

It’s not the archetypal clip Spanish courts person tried to detain Puigdemont abroad. After a Belgian tribunal declined to nonstop him backmost successful 2017, the pursuing twelvemonth helium was arrested successful Germany but a tribunal determination besides refused to extradite him.

Nine different Catalan separatists received situation sentences for their relation successful the 2017 referendum ranging from 9 to 13 years. They were pardoned successful July, but Puigdemont, who fled, was not.

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Although Puigdemont holds a spot successful the European Parliament, that legislature stripped him of parliamentary immunity. Puigdemont noted helium was owed successful Strasbourg connected Oct. 4 for a Parliament session, but said helium would travel it remotely from his laptop successful Sardinia if helium had to.

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Winfield contributed from Rome.

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