Detained Catalan leader sought by Spain awaits fate in Italy
ABC News
A former Catalan leader sought by Spain for his secessionist bid is awaiting an extradition decision from a judge in Sardinia, Italy, where he has been detained
ROME -- A former Catalan leader sought by Spain for a failed 2017 secession bid is expected to appear at an extradition hearing Friday after being detained in Sardinia, an Italian island with strong Catalan cultural roots and its own independence movement.
Italian police on Thursday night transferred Carles Puigdemont to a jail in Sassari, a Sardinian city near Alghero, where he had been detained upon arrival at the airport there. Alghero is hosting a traditional Catalan folklore festival that he was expected to attend.
His Spanish lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, said Thursday night that his client was being detained in Italy under a 2019 European arrest warrant, even though it has been suspended.
Earlier in the week, Sardinian media reported that Puigdemont had been invited to a closed-door gathering elsewhere on the island of sympathizers of a Sardinian independence movement. Sardinian separatist supporters holding flags and banners gathered outside the courthouse Friday to show solidarity as they waited for Puigdemont's arrival at the tribunal.
