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Barcelona sealed off as police hunt for Carles Puigdemont

August 8, 2024 This article was posted by TLB Staff WORLD 0

ER Editor: What on earth is going down in Spain? So many events feel weird in an orchestrated sense right now, this above all. 

Carles Puigdemont led the Catalan separatist movement but ended up in exile instead, living in Brussels since 2017. He and his party unilaterally declared independence from Spain following a widely supported referendum in October of 2017; Madrid under Mariana Rajoy, however, took over and dissolved the regional parliament, imposing direct control and snap elections in December. He and other members of his party were charged with rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, hence he fled.

Socialist president Pedro Sanchez has relied on Catalan separatist members to keep power but only on condition of giving them amnesty in law. Puigdemont, for some reason, vowed to return today, Thursday August 8, to give a public speech at the swearing in of a new regional leader. He was never included in the amnesty because of the criminal charges against him, so he’s still a wanted man.

From The Guardian yesterday, we have this —

Carles Puigdemont vows to return to Spain in headache for ruling coalition

Fugitive Catalan separatist leader risks arrest if he keeps to his word on Thursday after seven years in exile

The fugitive Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has said he will return to Spain on Thursday, risking likely arrest in a move that could destabilise the country’s ruling coalition.

Puigdemont, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium for seven years after organising an illegal independence referendum in Catalonia, has said that he will be at the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Thursday as it swears in the region’s new leader.

In a video message published Wednesday, he said that “in normal democratic conditions, for an MP like me to announce his intention to attend that session would be unnecessary, it would be irrelevant. But ours are not normal democratic conditions.

…

Police have reportedly been tasked with ensuring Puigdemont does not enter the Catalan parliament, limiting access to the area, carrying out room-by-room inspections and even searching the sewers.  (ER: it sounds like the stuff of movies)

…

Lola García, the deputy editor of the Catalan daily La Vanguardia – a paper that is historically close to Puigdemont’s party – has noted that his arrival could have broader implications for Spain’s politics.

“The possibility of Puigdemont being jailed might complicate things for the Spanish government, although a change of government wouldn’t be in his interest at this juncture,” she said. “But it won’t resuscitate the unity of the independence movement nor the independence process.”

Despite a formal separation of powers, the Spanish judiciary is viewed – not only by Catalan separatists – as highly politicised and an unreformed relic of the Franco dictatorship.

Then lo and behold, we get this street sighting and other appearances. Clearly some Twitter users don’t like him —

Translation:  what are the odds of finding me by chance puigdemont parading through the passage of sant benet with turret and security before arriving at the mass bath of the triumphal arch??

Translation: The fugitive coup leader Puigdemont walks through the streets of Catalonia without ANYONE putting him in shackles and bringing him before Justice. What a shameful country.

Translation: It is scandalous: the fugitive Puigdemont is walking around Barcelona without being arrested by the Mossos. The Government of Pedro Sánchez and the Generalitat allow him to give a coup-mongering and anti-Spanish speech right now. We are governed by traitors.

This smacks of pure comedy —

Translation: after learning that the fugitive Puigdemont is holding an event and walking through the streets of Barcelona without being arrested: “This is a very serious matter. We will do everything necessary to ensure that Puigdemont is arrested.”

Translation: Puigdemont is not arrested when he walks around Barcelona. But they stop traffic at the border to check each trunk. The ridiculousness of the spectacle is nothing more than grotesque.

Translation: Carles Puigdemont speaks at the welcome ceremony organised by Junts and several secessionist organisations. He was able to enter national territory, reach Barcelona, ​​walk to the lectern and speak in public. And he hasn’t been arrested yet!

We smell theatre. We’re even tempted to ask, is it REALLY Puigdemont or a stand-in?

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Barcelona sealed off as police hunt for Carles Puigdemont

Manhunt launched after separatist leader gives speech before disappearing.

BARCELONA, Spain — Catalan police have locked down Barcelona in a bid to capture separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who on Thursday briefly reappeared to address supporters in the city before vanishing.

Officers have set up checkpoints at exits from the city as they look for a vehicle in which the former Catalan president, who has been wanted by Spanish authorities since 2017, is said to be travelling.

SPAIN-CATALONIA-POLITICS-PARLIAMENT
Carles Puigdemont had hoped he could enter the parliament to participate in a debate ahead of a vote a new regional president. | Manaure Quintero/AFP via Getty Images
.

Seven years after fleeing Spain to avoid arrest, Puigdemont reappeared in Barcelona in front of hundreds of cheering supporters on Thursday outside the Catalan parliament.

Then he vanished.

Puigdemont appeared on a stage next to the city’s Triumphal Arch. Supporters formed a human barrier around him. The politician is subject to an active arrest warrant and police forces are under orders to detain him if they see him.

“Despite all the efforts to do us harm, I have come here today to remind them that we are still here and that we do not have to give up,” Puigdemont told the crowd. “Long live Free Catalonia!”

After concluding his short speech, the politician descended from the stage, apparently to take part in a march to the parliament. But within moments, he disappeared into the crowd and was not among a group of lawmakers that ultimately entered the building, which was sealed off and surrounded by police officers.

Although expectation rose to a fever-pitch within the parliament, the session began as scheduled at 10 a.m., when Socialist Salvador Illa began his address ahead of a vote on his bid to be the next president of Catalonia. Illa began his speech by defending the Spanish government’s amnesty bill, which the country’s judiciary is refusing to apply to Puigdemont, and insisted that all members elected to the legislative body should be able to attend its meetings.

Because Puigdemont, who was elected to the parliament last May, did not request to vote remotely, many expected him to appear in the hemicycle at some point — but it remains unclear how he would enter the building without being detained. Shortly after the session began, the Catalan regional police confirmed that Puigdemont had not been taken into custody. (ER: Really?)

A much-anticipated return

The former Catalan president announced his intention to return to Barcelona on Wednesday, saying he intended to be back in Barcelona for a vote on Illa becoming regional president, which would put an end to 14 years of separatist governments.

Expectation was high ahead of Puigdemont’s promised appearance. In the hour before the event’s scheduled start at 9 a.m., booming music and large screens recounted the past seven years of the Catalan leader’s political trials and tribulations.

Attendees chanted “Puigdemont, our president!” and “independence!” while waiting for his arrival, with some wearing masks depicting the former Catalan president’s face.

CONTINUE READING HERE

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Published to The Liberty Beacon from EuropeReloaded.com

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