Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has announced that he is in Belgium and that he has never intended to surrender or assist in his arrest, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
"I am in Waterloo after extremely difficult days," he wrote on the social network "X".
On Thursday, Puigdemont returned briefly to Spain after seven years in self-imposed exile, despite a warrant for his arrest, to address a rally of supporters, then went into hiding again. The subsequent scenes of his escape resembled a crime and caused the displeasure of opposition politicians and representatives of the justice system.
Eduard Sallent, head of Catalan law enforcement, said his officers waited until the rally was over before detaining Puigdemont to avoid tensions.
But after his speech, the separatist leader went backstage and slipped out of sight, passing behind a tent where he put a baseball cap on his head and then got into a waiting car nearby, the police chief said.
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"It was an operation that did not achieve its goal of arresting Puigdemont, which can be defined as a mistake, but they did not make us look like fools. The Catalan police did what was asked of them," said Sallent.
Earlier, the head of Catalan law enforcement cast doubt on the version that Puigdemont had left Spain, and announced that the operation to capture the separatist leader was continuing.
"I do not rule out that this person is still in Barcelona," said Sallent. "I do not have any objective evidence that Mr. Puigdemont is in Belgium, rather I think that they want to make me think so. But we don't work on guesswork, much less on stakeholder statements."
The Supreme Court judge leading the investigation into the Puigdemont case has asked Catalan police and the central government in Madrid to explain the spectacular blunder in his arrest.
Although the Spanish parliament granted amnesty to all those involved in the failed 2017 Catalan secession referendum, the Supreme Court ruled that the measure did not apply to Puigdemont.
He and two other people have been charged with illegally diverting public funds to finance the referendum, which was declared illegal by the Spanish courts.
According to Puigdemont, everything was legal, so it follows that the charges against him are invalid.
The backlash and mutual recriminations surrounding his escape risk new political instability in Spain, Reuters notes.
The case has angered the deeply conservative opposition, which initially expressed strong displeasure at the amnesty negotiated by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in exchange for support from Catalan separatists for his minority government.
The secretary general of Puigdemont's party "Together for Catalonia" (ZK) Jordi Turul said the formation was considering withdrawing support for the government because of the Supreme Court's ruling that the amnesty would not apply to Puigdemont and the other two co-accused unless Madrid insists that it cover everyone.
Sanchez and his office remain silent on the case for now. They also refuse to comment on the threats of the ZK and criticism from the opposition.
Yesterday, the opposition People's Party said the interior and defense ministers should be fired because of Puigdemont's escape.