Protestors angry with the detention of Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont in Germany have stopped traffic on highways in northeastern Spain.
Catalonia’s regional transit service has reported that protestors have cut off traffic on four different highways Sunday afternoon.
Puigdemont was detained in Germany on an international arrest warrant issued by Spain after he fled the country in October following an illegal declaration of independence.
Crowds also clashed with police in the region’s main city of Barcelona.
7:30 p.m.
Scotland’s leader says officials are legally obliged to follow the extradition procedures for a fugitive Catalan politician in Scotland, even though her government strongly opposes Spain’s decision to arrest and imprison Catalonia’s separatist leaders.
Scottish police say they have received a European arrest warrant for Clara Ponsati, Catalonia’s former education chief, who fled from Spain after Catalonia’s failed independence bid. She has recently returned to her academic post at the University of St. Andrews.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that Scotland’s support for Catalan self-determination is “well-established,” adding on Twitter on Sunday: “I know that many will wish @scotgov was able to do or say more — I understand that.”
But she said that Scottish officials must follow extradition laws, and that the independence of the legal system must be respected despite the government’s political views.
7 p.m.
Prosecutors in Germany say that fugitive Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont will appear in court Monday in a northern German town “to confirm the identity of the detained.”
The Schleswig prosecutor’s office said in a statement that “the question of whether Mr. Puigdemont has to be taken into extradition custody, will then have to be determined by the higher regional court in Schleswig.”
The statement says that the court will check, based on extradition documents by Spain, if the handover of Puigdemont to Spanish authorities is “legally permissible.”
Puigdemont was detained Sunday morning in Germany on an international warrant near the highway leading from Denmark to Germany.
6:40 p.m.
Crowds are clashing with police in downtown Barcelona as angry Catalans protest the detention of fugitive former leader Carles Puigdemont in Germany.
Police dressed in riot gear are striking demonstrators with batons as they try to push back a large crowd that wants to advance on the office of the Spanish government’s representative in Catalonia.
Catalan police have blocked the street and issued a call for people not to gather.
Thousands answered the call by a pro-independence grassroots group to protest in the city center hours after Puigdemont was detained by German police.
Puigdemont fled from Spain in October following an illegal declaration of independence by the region. Source More…
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