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full screen Supporters of Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont await his arrival near the Catalan parliament on Thursday. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP/TT
After the speech at the regional parliament, Catalonia’s former separatist leader disappeared without a trace – despite extensive police searches.
Now the Spanish judge demands answers regarding the disappearance.
Spanish judge Pablo Llarena, who issued Carles Puigdemont’s arrest warrant, is demanding explanations from the police and the Interior Ministry regarding the separatist leader’s disappearance, reports AFP.
The general secretary of Puigdemont’s party Junts, Jordi Turell, states during the morning on Catalan radio that the separatist leader is back in Waterloo in Belgium where he lives, reports the news agency Ansa. He also says that he had dinner with Puigdemont in Barcelona already on Tuesday evening, and he should thus have been in the country long before he was seen in public.
On Thursday, Puigdemont appeared in Barcelona ahead of the election of a new leader in the regional parliament. That after seven years in exile in Belgium and with an ongoing national arrest warrant.
He was met with cheers from his supporters, but quickly disappeared after his speech.
The arrival was announced and the regional police, known as Los Mossos, were responsible for the operation to arrest him during the stay. Now two police officers are suspected of having helped him escape.