Ousted official flees to Brussels
BRUSSELS — Catalonia’s ousted regional president said Tuesday he travelled to Brussels to seek “freedom and safety” after Spain blocked his bid for Catalan independence and sought to bring charges against him that could put him in prison for decades.
A day after he arrived in Brussels, Belgium, Carles Puigdemont told a packed news conference he would return home “immediately” if a fair judicial process were guaranteed in Spain. He dismissed speculation he would seek political asylum in the Belgian capital.
“Here we have better guarantees for our rights and we can meet our obligations from here,” he said.
Puigdemont said he and his team will stay in Brussels and “continue our work despite the limits imposed on us.”
The Spanish government has cracked down on Puigdemont’s attempt to take Catalonia, a wealthy region of some 7.5 million people, out of Spain. The government says Puigdemont flouted the constitution by holding an Oct. 1 independence referendum. The Catalan parliament approved a motion declaring independence last week, but the Spanish Constitution says Spain is “indivisible.”
Spain’s chief prosecutor is seeking charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement against Puigdemont and his no. 2 Oriol Junqueras before Spain’s National Court.
Puigdemont was flanked at a news conference by five of his ousted regional chiefs. He said that he would accept the challenge of early regional elections the Spanish government called for Dec. 21 “with all our strength” and that Catalan nationalists would take part in the vote. That promise erased fears that secessionists might boycott the ballot in the hope of denying it legitimacy.
Puigdemont walked into the building past a few protesters with Spanish national flags and prounity signs, including ones that said “Rule of Law” and “Not in my Name. Long live Spain.”
Spain took control over prosperous northeastern Catalonia last weekend after Puigdemont led the regional parliament to proclaim a new republic on Friday. The Spanish government immediately sacked him and his cabinet, dissolved the regional parliament and called an early election.