The fugitive former leader of Spain’s Catalonia region has spoken in Denmark about an upcoming constitutional referendum in the Faeroe Islands, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Carles Puigdemont told a crowded auditorium at the University of Copenhagen on Monday that “if Catalans can’t change their laws and leaders, that means there is no democracy in Catalonia.”
Puigdemont has been living in Belgium since Spain’s prime minister removed him from office and prosecutors opened a sedition investigation over the Catalan government’s push for independence.
The Faeroes and Greenland have long sought more autonomy while allowing Denmark to handle their foreign affairs and defense. The Faeroes are holding a referendum on a new constitution on April 25.
Puigdemont appeared at the university after a Spanish judge refused to ask Danish authorities to arrest him.
A Spanish judge has rejected a petition from the country’s prosecutor to ask Danish authorities to arrest ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
Puigdemont arrived Monday in Copenhagen from Brussels to speak at the University of Copenhagen. He was to meet Danish lawmakers on Tuesday.
The trip is Puigdemont’s first outside Belgium since he fled there to avoid a Spanish probe for his role in an illegal— and unsuccessful— secession bid for Catalonia in October.
Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena says in his decision that Puigdemont wants to be arrested overseas so he can blame on Spain his absence from a meeting of the Catalan parliament later this month in which he is the candidate to be sworn in as the region’s president.
Spain’s foreign minister says that “for the moment” ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont is free to move in Europe outside of Spain, adding that his arrest was a matter for judges to decide.
Puigdemont flew Monday to Copenhagen from Belgium, where he has been since fleeing a Spanish investigation into the Catalan parliament’s secession declaration last year.
Spain’s prosecutors promptly asked a judge to issue a warrant for his arrest but the judge has yet to decide.
Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said in Brussels that “Mr. Puigdemont is subject to a process in Spain. Outside, for the moment, his movements are free within the European Union, but we’ll see.”
Spanish courts initially sought Puigdemont’s extradition from Belgium but canceled that petition amid concerns that Belgium might send him back but restrict the crimes with which he could be charged.
The speaker of Catalonia’s parliament has proposed former regional leader Carles Puigdemont as candidate to form a government, despite his status as a fugitive from Spanish justice.
Puigdemont arrived in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, on Monday to talk at a university there and meet Danish lawmakers. It is his first trip outside of Belgium since he left Spain dodging a judicial investigation into an illegal — and unsuccessful — independence declaration in late October.
Spain’s state prosecutor is seeking his arrest in Denmark. A Spanish judge is yet to rule on the European warrant.
Catalan Parliament Speaker Roger Torrent says that Puigdemont is the only candidate with enough backing to attempt a government following regional elections last month.
Torrent says he has written asking Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to meet and talk about the “abnormal situation” in Catalonia.
Spain’s state prosecutor has set in motion the process to arrest Catalonia’s former leader in Denmark, where he has arrived to attend a debate.
Ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is scheduled to speak Monday at the University of Copenhagen and meet Danish lawmakers on Tuesday.
The trip is Puigdemont’s first outside Belgium since he fled there to avoid a Spanish probe for his role in an illegal— and unsuccessful— secession bid for Catalonia in October.
The prosecutor’s office says it has asked the Supreme Court to approve a European warrant for his arrest. It’s unclear if Judge Pablo Llarena will grant it. In December, Llarena withdrew a similar order, concerned that Brussels would send Puigdemont back to Spain but restrict the crimes with which he could be charged.
The fugitive former leader of Catalonia has arrived in Denmark, despite threats from Spain to seek his immediate arrest there.
On Sunday, Spain’s state prosecutor’s office said it will reissue a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont if he travels from Belgium to Denmark.
Spain issued a warrant for Puigdemont’s arrest in November, but withdrew it after a month amid fears that Brussels would send him back but restrict the crimes he could be tried for.
He is slated to take part in a debate at the University of Copenhagen Monday, and Tuesday he has been invited to the Danish Parliament by a Faeroese lawmaker, but leading members of the government and opposition have declined to meet him.
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