Facing arrest by Finnish authorities acting on an international warrant issued by Spain, former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has left Finland and was headed to Belgium, a Finnish lawmaker and ally said on Saturday.
Mr Puigdemont left Finland on Friday after Spain announced its request to have him detained, and was bound for Belgium where he plans to cooperate with authorities regarding Spain’s attempts to extradite him, said legislator Mikko Kärnä, who hosted the Catalan leader during his two-day trip to the country.
If he returns to Spain, Mr Puigdemont faces up to 25 years in prison on charges of rebellion and sedition for his part in organising a referendum on secession last year.
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Earlier on Saturday, Finnish police said they had received the arrest order and would begin the normal extradition process upon locating the Catalan leader, who was thought still to be in the country at that time.
REUTERS/Yves Herman
In an interview with Spanish radio station Catalunya Radio earlier, Mr Puigdemont’s lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, had said his client would present himself to Finnish police.
Mr Puigdemont went into self-imposed exile in Belgium last year, shortly after the Catalan parliament made a symbolic declaration of independence from Spain. He arrived in Finland on Thursday to meet lawmakers and attend a conference.
On Friday, Spanish supreme court judge Pablo Llarena ruled that 25 separatist politicians, including Mr Puigdemont, would face trial on charges of rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state.
Of those, five were sent on Friday to pre-trial jail, among them Jordi Turull, a close ally of Mr Puigdemont who was due to be put forward for a second vote on Saturday to become the next regional president.
With Mr Turull in jail and unable to attend a session for which his presence is obligatory, Catalan parliament speaker Roger Torrent cancelled the vote, holding in its place a debate, which frequently became heated and saw members of one opposition party abandon the chamber in protest.
Speaking after the end of the debate, accompanied by various other heads of parties and in front of a crowd of supporters, Mr Torrent described Madrid’s legal action as an “attack on the heart of democracy”.
“Locking up people for their political ideas and pursuing those that refuse to renounce them is to put an end to the freedom of political thought,” Mr Torrent said, urging Catalan politicians to form a coalition to oppose Madrid’s actions.