Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont arrested in Italy

Madrid: European MEP and former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont — in exile in Belgium since 2017 after an attempt by the region to gain independence through a referendum that Spain ruled was unconstitutional — was arrested in Italy on Thursday, his lawyer said.

“President Puigdemont was arrested on his arrival in Sardinia, where he was travelling in his capacity as MEP,” his lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, wrote on Twitter, adding that the arrest was made on the basis of a warrant issued in October 2019.