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Former Catalan Regional President Carles Puigdemont (2019)
Photo:
Francisco Seco / AP
Former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont has been arrested on the Italian island of Sardinia, according to Spanish media reports.
As the newspaper "El Español" reports, the arrest was based on an international arrest warrant.
The newspaper "El País" confirmed the reports.
In the evening, Puigdemont's attorney Gonzalo Boye confirmed Puigdemont's arrest on Twitter.
According to media reports, Puigdemont had traveled to Italy because of an event in the Catalan-speaking town of L'Alguer.
Puigdemont has been on the run from the Spanish judiciary since autumn 2017 and has lived in Belgium for four years.
As a member of the European Parliament, he enjoyed immunity, which was lifted by a decision of the Parliament in March.
Spain has been trying in vain for the extraditions for years.
The Catalan independence movement under separatist leader Puigdemont held a referendum on October 1, 2017 against the will of Madrid and even proclaimed Catalonia's independence for a short time.
The central government in Madrid then suspended the region's autonomy and removed the regional government from office.
Fled to Belgium
Puigdemont and his former health minister Toni Comín then fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution.
Catalonia's ex-minister of culture, Clara Ponsatí, fled to Scotland.
In 2019 all three were elected to the EU Parliament.
In Spain politicians face severe penalties.
Fellow campaigners for the independence of Catalonia who remained there have already been sentenced to prison terms, some of them long.
Former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, for example, received a 13-year prison sentence.
He was also elected to the EU Parliament, but could not take up his mandate because of the conviction.
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