• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > World

Puigdemont Speaks from Brussels To 'Act with Liberty and Security'

  • Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont departs after giving a news conference at the Press Club Brussels Europe in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 31, 2017.

    Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont departs after giving a news conference at the Press Club Brussels Europe in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 31, 2017. | Photo: Reuters

Published 31 October 2017
Opinion

The Catalan leader said that the Spain's Attorney General has no “no interest in justice, only revenge."

The ex-president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, and seven ex-assembly members of the now dissolved Catalan Parliament have said at a press conference from Brussels that they chose to speak from the capital of the EU to express themselves "without threats from Spain," but are not seeking asylum.

RELATED:
Catalan Leaders Face Possible Rebellion and Sedition Charges

They told reporters that they were in Belgium to “act with liberty and security." Puigdemont and the ex-parliamentarians said they would not return to Catalonia until conditions allow for their safe return.

In response to Catalonia's self-declared independence Friday, the Spanish Senate swiftly responded by invoking Article 155 of the country's constitution. The move, unprecedented in Spain's history, allowed Madrid to seize control of the region and its institutions.

Puigdemont told the press, “You have to understand, the Spanish government has illegitimately ended the (Catalan) Parliament and taken away all police protections.” He added that they chose to go to Brussels to avoid “social confrontation” and to decrease the chances of “violence” erupting in Catalonia, adding that the Spain's Attorney General has no “no interest in justice, only revenge."

"We’d like to continue to work as a government … with a just process and separation of powers.” Under these conditions, “we will return (to Catalonia) immediately," he said.

WATCH: From The South: Catalonia's Independence movement

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will convene with ministers this evening in a special session to approve "organizational aspects" of Catalan elections that the central government called for Dec. 21.

Puigdemont said he would respect the results of the elections, but questioned whether the central government would if independence leaders win.

RELATED:
Dismissed Catalan Deputy President Rejects Spanish Government's 'Coup D'etat'

Spain's Attorney General Jose Manuel Maza announced Monday that top Catalan officials will be prosecuted for rebellion, sedition, provocation, and misuse of public funds following the Oct. 1 independence referendum, a measure declared illegal by Madrid. The Supreme Court will hear the case.

Reporters asked the members how they would respond to accusations that they created chaos, then fled Spain. Puigdemont said that the entire process was peaceful until the Spanish police used violence against Catalans. The ex-Parliament members insisted, “there is no chaos.”

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria is currently ruling the region and Catalonia’s police are now under the command of Spain’s Interior Ministry.

The Spanish Supreme Court summoned the former Parliament President Carme Forcadell, and five members of the now dissolved Catalan Parliament to court hearings on Nov. 2-3.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.