Fugitive Catalan leader Puigdemont flees to Belgium after evading arrest

Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive Catalan separatist leader, announced on August 9 that he had departed Spain for Belgium following a brief appearance in Barcelona.

Puigdemont, who led Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, took to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal he was in Waterloo, Belgium, a town where he has resided for most of the past seven years, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Puigdemont’s return to Spain on Thursday was marked by a speech to thousands at the Catalan regional parliament in Barcelona. However, he managed to slip away from authorities, vanishing into the crowd. He was expected to participate in a vote for a new Catalan leader but instead evaded police capture.

Catalonia's regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, launched a manhunt for Puigdemont after his disappearance. They initially planned to arrest him discreetly to avoid public disorder. Following the failed operation, two officers were briefly detained for their alleged involvement in aiding Puigdemont's escape, with a third officer later arrested.

Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena demanded the names of officers involved in the arrest operation and those responsible for its execution. The police chief, Eduard Sallent, stated that Puigdemont's arrest was hindered by a large crowd and that the situation escalated quickly.

Puigdemont fled Spain in 2017 to avoid prosecution after a controversial independence referendum led to Spain's worst political crisis since its return to democracy. Despite Spain’s amnesty law passed in May for those involved in the secession attempt, the Supreme Court ruled in July that Puigdemont was not fully covered by the measure.

The latest escape has triggered a political backlash. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the Popular Party, called for the dismissal of Spain’s interior and defence ministers, citing police failures. Justice Minister Felix Bolanos defended the Mossos, emphasizing that enforcing court orders is their responsibility.

Catalonia's parliament recently elected Salvador Illa of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists as its new leader, breaking a decade-long trend of pro-independence leadership.