Puigdemont: The legitimate government of Catalonia was imprisoned for its ideas

Published:

20:43

From Belgium, the former Catalan president demanded the release of members of his former government.

"The serene clamor of the Catalans is one of freedom," added Puigdemont.

Puigdemont said that "the serene clamor of the Catalans is one of freedom".

The former president of the regional government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, who did not testify on Thursday to the National High Court, condemned from Belgium the preventive detention imposed against more than half of his former Executive through social networks and with a video forwarded to the Catalan regional television.

"The legitimate government of Catalonia imprisoned for its ideas and for having been loyal to the mandate approved by the Parliament of Catalonia,"Puigdemont wrote in a message on the social network Twitter .

The former Catalan president, who was due to declare this day in Madrid before the judge of the National Court Carmen Lamela, also attacked "the furious clan of 155"that according to him wishes the imprisonment of the members of his government until the 27 of October.

After the unilateral declaration of independence last Friday in the Catalan regional Parliament , the Spanish government applied article 155 of the Constitution to restore legality.

The Catalan regional Parliament then approved that unilateral declaration of independence in a secret ballot, with the half-empty chamber in the absence of opposition, without reaching the two-thirds majority required by the regulations of that chamber and with the legal opinion of the parliamentary lawyers in against.

"The serene clamor of the Catalans is freedom," Puigdemont added in a second message also in Catalan illustrated with a photograph of a pro-independence rally.

The Catalan politician, who according to sources in his environment remains in Belgium since last Monday along with four other former councilors (Clara Ponsatí, Antoni Comín, Lluís Puig and Meritxell Serret), expressed himself after the court decision to send the prison to prison awaits trial all members of the former Catalan government who remain in Spain.

Shortly after, in a video sent to the regional television "TV3" and apparently recorded in Belgium, Puigdemont said to demand "the liberation" of the members of the former Executive and demanded a response to the international and European community considering that the crisis of Catalonia "is no longer an internal Spanish matter" .

Puigdemont awaiting the request of the Prosecutor's Office

In judicial terms, Puigdemont is waiting to know if Judge Lamela will respond to the request of the Prosecutor's Office , which has requested that a European Order of Detention and Surrender be issued (OEDE) against her and the other four former counselors still in office. Belgium for rebellion, sedition and embezzlement.

Sources of the National Audience indicated that the judge will not decide this Thursday on the mentioned euroorden .

For its part, sources of the Belgian Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday to EFE that they are on the lookout for if they receive the aforementioned euroorden by the Spanish judicial authorities for the former Catalan president and that once they had been notified "they will apply the law" .

The federal fiscal ministry will be the Belgian authority that receives the euroorder of arrest on the part of the Spanish Justice and the one in charge of executing it.

The lawyer of Puigdemont in Belgium, Paul Bekaert , specialist in extraditions and Human Rights, warned on Thursday in statements to the Dutch television "HLN" that the reception of that European arrest warrant and a possible subsequent extradition will not be immediate.

"That will take a while, because the arrest warrant has to be translated , and then processed by the Federal Police, in the Federal Prosecutor's Office in our country, then Mr. Puigdemont must pick it up and take it to the court of instruction," he said.

Se impuso la prisión preventiva contra más de la mitad del antiguo Ejecutivo de Puigdemont. (Foto: EFE)

En cuanto a qué puede hacer un juez de instrucción belga en este caso, Bekaert dijo que "tiene diferentes posibilidades. Puede detenerlo y ponerle las esposas. Pero el juez de instrucción no tiene por qué detenerlo, también puede dejar al señor Puigdemont en libertad, bajo ciertas condiciones".

Bekaert no ha aclarado todavía si también representará al resto de miembros en Bélgica del último gobierno de la Generalitat de Cataluña, mientras que dos de los exconsejeros también citados este jueves, Comín y Serre, habían solicitado a la Audiencia Nacional declarar por videoconferencia.

Comín también se pronunció desde Bélgica y a través de las redes sociales con un mensaje en el que reiteró que se considera parte del "gobierno legítimo" de Cataluña.