Protests as ex-Catalan leader arrested

VIOLENCE flared in Barcelona yesterday as angry Catalans protested against the detention of fugitive former leader Carles Puigdemont in Germany.

Police dressed in riot gear struck demonstrators with batons as they tried to push back a large crowd advancing on the office of the Spanish government’s representative in Catalonia.

Officers blocked the street and issued a call for people not to gather.

Thousands answered the call by a pro-independence grassroots group to protest in the city centre hours after Mr Puigdemont was detained by German police.

He fled from Spain in October following an illegal declaration of independence by the region.

Prosecutors in Germany said Mr Puigdemont will appear in court today.

The Schleswig prosecutor’s office said “the question of whether

A protester in tears as she speaks to riot police blocking the road leading to the central government offices at a demonstration in Barcelona

Mr Puigdemont has to be taken into extradition custody will then have to be determined by the higher regional court in Schleswig”.

Mr Puigdemont was detained yesterday morning in Germany on an international warrant near the road leading from Denmark to Germany.

A Spanish Supreme Court judge charged 13 Catalan separatist politicians with rebellion on Friday for their attempts to make the region independent of Spain, dealing a heavy blow to the secessionist movement.

The judge ordered international arrest warrants for the six Catalan officials who are fugitives, including Mr Puigdemont.

Mr Puigdemont was detained while travelling from Finland back to Belgium, where he has been living since October.