The Italian judge releases Puigdemont, but forces him to continue in Sardinia

A judge of the Court of Appeal of Sassari (Italy) has ordered the release of Carles Puigdemont while the doubts about the euro order that weighs on the former president of the Generalitat and the question of his immunity are resolved. Puigdemont, on the run from Spanish justice, had been detained in Sassari (Sardinia) since Thursday night when the border police considered that the European arrest warrant was still in force when he wanted to enter Italy to participate in the International Festival of Popular Culture Catalan, at the Civic Theater of Alghero. His arrest has caused a political earthquake in Italy as well. None of the ministries consulted - Justice, Interior and Defense (on which the Carabinieri corps depends) - had notice of the arrival of the politician who had fled from Spanish justice.Puigdemont is expected to appear before the president of the Sassari Court of Appeal, responsible for validating or rejecting the arrest and ruling on the precautionary measures that would be imposed on him. This Friday the instructor of the cause of

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, Pablo Llarena, has sent a letter to the Spanish representative in Eurojust to send the Italian judicial authorities the Euro order issued on October 14, 2019 against Puigdemont for sedition and embezzlement.

The arrest caught Mario Draghi's Executive by surprise. The first to speak this Friday morning was the Secretary of State responsible for European Affairs of the Italian Government, Vincenzo Amendola. Somehow, he justified the arrest. “We respectfully await the judiciary's assessment of the arrest of Carles Puigdemont. It is a case that comes from afar with the withdrawal of immunity by the [European] Parliament, with a judgment of the Luxembourg Court of July 30 that suspended it along with other consequent acts ”, he pointed out. "We hope to hear the motivations of the local court." For Amendola “it is not a political issue, nor is it a bilateral one”. The situation begins to worry in the Chigi Palace - seat of the Italian Government - where there is no intention of it becoming a diplomatic matter.

The Ministry of Justice, consulted by this newspaper, has explained that Italy is trying to clarify whether or not Puigdemont had immunity at the time of his arrest. "One of the points that must be resolved is the content of the ordinance through which on July 30, 2021 the vice president of the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected the request for suspension of the withdrawal of the Parliamentary immunity of the independence leader ”, state ministerial sources. "This Court wrote that there was no reason for retention that the Belgian or other Member State authorities could use to request the European arrest warrant against the deputies to hand them over to the Spanish authority."

An idea shared by Carles Puigdemont's Italian lawyer, Agostinangelo Marras, who was already working to secure the release of his client “as soon as possible”.

"This afternoon's hearing will serve to decide whether he should be in prison or can remain at home," the Sardinian lawyer from Puigdemont explained to this newspaper.

In the event that the arrest is deemed to have been carried out correctly, the same court, chaired by Salvatore Marinaro, must decide on the possible surrender.

But that process could take up to 60 days.

"If it ruled in favor, we would still have recourse to the Supreme Court," says Marras.

No one in Italy has yet explained why the arrest warrant was not activated when Puigdemont entered Paris last week.

Regain immunity

The defense of the former president of the Generalitat plans to deliver a document of very precautionary measures to the General Court of the EU this Friday.

The objective is for the European justice to recover the provisional immunity that this body had withdrawn from Puigdemont on July 30, a decision that the body took after confirming with the Spanish justice that the arrest warrants were suspended and that therefore there was no risk of being arrested, reports

Guillermo Abril

.

In video, the audio of the statements of Gonzalo Boye, Carles Puigdemont's lawyer, this Friday in 'Hoy por hoy' of Cadena Ser.Miquel Benitez / Getty Images / Video: EPV

The European court's own July order recognized the possibility of requesting these provisional measures again “in the event of the arrest of the plaintiffs by an enforcement authority of a Member State or the application of a surrender procedure to the Spanish authorities”. This has been explained in a telematic appearance from Brussels Gonzalo Boye, the lawyer who leads the legal team of the Catalan politician, and also the MEP Toni Comín, resident in Belgium and fled from Spanish justice, like Puigdemont himself.

Boye explained that they expect the Luxembourg-based court's response to occur within 72 hours, although there is no set deadline.

The lawyer has explained that Puigdemont is in custody, and hopes that he will be brought to justice between this Friday and Monday (the maximum period in this case is 72 hours).