Fugitive ex-Catalan leader plans return to Spain despite threat of arrest

BARCELONA, Spain -- BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia who fled Spain after organizing an illegal independence referendum in the wealthy Spanish region seven years ago, announced that he plans to return home on Thursday despite the likelihood of being arrested on his return.

Puigdemont, 61, who fled to Belgium after the breakaway bid in October 2017 quickly collapsed, said Wednesday that he would attend an event organized by his political party Together for Catalonia near Barcelona’s regional parliament building hours before a new regional government takes office.

He did not say when or how he would arrive in Spain. The political event in Barcelona is likely to gather many Puigdemont supporters.

The Mossos D'Esquadra, the regional police in Catalonia, say that they intend to obey court orders to arrest Puigdemont, if he does return.

In his announcement made on YouTube, Puigdemont recognized that he “cannot attend freely” the scheduled parliamentary session and accused authorities of “a long persecution” over the unsuccessful breakaway attempt.

“This challenge must be answered and confronted,” he said.

Puigdemont's return is likely to generate renewed political tension over the smoldering issue of Catalan independence. The failed secession attempt triggered a protracted constitutional crisis in Spain.

Puigdemont and his supporters have long taken a confrontational and at times provocative stance toward Spain's central authorities, especially the Madrid-based government.

The former Catalan leader’s return threatened to complicate a deal brokered after months of deadlock between Salvador Illa's Catalan Socialist Party and the other main Catalan separatist party and left-wing Esquerra Republicana.

That deal had ensured just enough support in Catalonia’s parliament for Illa to become the next regional president in an investiture debate Thursday, scheduled shortly after Puigdemont's first planned event and which will take place amid tight security.

Puigdemont, who is wanted on charges of embezzlement during the secession attempt, has dedicated his career to the goal of carving out a new country in northeast Spain — a decadeslong struggle. His largely uncompromising approach has brought political conflict with other separatist parties as well as with Spain's central government.

A contentious amnesty bill, crafted by Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government, could potentially clear Puigdemont and hundreds of other supporters of Catalan independence of any wrongdoing in the illegal 2017 ballot.

But the bill, approved by Spain’s parliament earlier this year, is being challenged by the Supreme Court, which argues the pardon does not apply to embezzlement, unlike other crimes that Puigdemont had previously been charged with. Puigdemont could be placed in pretrial detention.

Puigdemont’s escape from Spain became the stuff of legend among his followers, and a huge source of embarrassment for Spanish law enforcement. He is a celebrated figurehead for many Catalans who want to break away from the rest of Spain.

Earlier this year, Puigdemont denied that he had hidden in a car trunk to avoid detection while slipping across the border after the referendum. The subsequent legal crackdown landed several of his cohorts in prison until Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government pardoned them.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.