Spain's Top Court Summons Catalan Separatist Leader to Testify Remotely in Terrorism Case

09/04/2024

Spain's Supreme Court has summoned Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to testify remotely in June over his links to a group accused of breaching terrorism law over protests following the region's failed 2017 bid for independence.

The investigating magistrate set tentative dates for the remote hearing between June 17 and 21 and issued a European Investigation Order to ascertain Puigdemont's whereabouts and legal address, the court said in a statement on April 8. Puigdemont lives in self-imposed exile in Belgium.

The case concerns protests by a secretive Catalan group, Democratic Tsunami, which organised mass demonstrations including sit-ins in 2019 that caused cancellations of flights at Barcelona's airport and blocked a highway to France.

Puigdemont has been facing prosecution in a separate case over the 2017 referendum to break away from Madrid at a time when he held the post of regional leader, and a subsequent declaration of independence that courts declared illegal.

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