BREAKING: Catalonia Declares Independence

[swl]

Tensions brutally raised tonight in Barcelona and the rest of Catalunya. In the last month, the weekly demonstrations started again (maybe with the return of better weather), and the calm period we had in January/February seemed over.
But now with the arrest of Puigdemont in Germany and the demonstrations that followed, we witnessed the most serious violent scenes since October 1st (the day of the referendum itself). Seems we are back in full crisis mode.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Never in my life - NEVER - would I have imagined that the Bundesland I live in will be mentioned on CNN, BBC, New York Times & Co.
Puigdemont wasn't arrested in Switzerland, he wasn't arrested in Finland, he wasn't arrested in Denmark, but the German authorities, of course, have to European Arrest Warrant. 😒
The Higher Regional Court of Schleswig-Holstein has decided that Puigdemont has to remain in custody (they say tarrying in Neumünster is worse than getting back to Spain 😁; the court is to decide within 60 days if he will be extradited to Spain to face trial. The jurisprudential problem concerning this whole case is: There is no statutory offense called "rebellion" in the German criminal code; thus even the pundits are not sure if Puigdemont has to be extradited.
The Left and some parts of the SPD demand his immediate release, criticize Merkel's cooperation with the Spanish secret service (some newspapers found out that the reason Puigdemont was arrested in Germany was that the cooperation between the German and the Spanish intelligence agencies is very close), plus they called upon the Spanish legislate to abolish the respective paragraph.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia-germany/german-court-rejects-extradition-of-former-catalan-leader-on-rebellion-charge-idUSKCN1HC2C1

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[swl]

Turn of events as the German court decided that they cannot extradite Puigdemont to Spain for "rebellion" as the Spanish definition of this is not a crime in Germany. Puigdemont is released after paying a bail, and has to stay in Germany while the court decides if they hand him over to Spain for "misuse of public funds".

The problem from Spain is that EU law says that if Germany extradites him only for "misuse of public funds", Spain will only be allowed to put him to trial for that (max 3 years of jail) and will not be allowed to prosecute him for "rebellion" (max 30 years of jail).

So now it's a dilemma for Spain, as they have to decide whether they continue with the extradition process and try to prosecute Puigdemont only for misuse of public funds, or whether they drop the extradition request entirely and try to get him another time.

There is not much progress on the main subject (catalan independence), but with Catalan politicians in exile in many different countries  (Germany, Switzerland, UK, Belgium) I am sure all of these will be taught in EU law / international law faculties.

[seb_pard]

Hahahaha beautiful, specially after those Albert Rivera's tweets

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Never had I thought that a provincial court in Schleswig-Holstein could and would influence a foreign judicial procedure in such a way as to determine what the defendant may be prosecuted for. 

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Puigdemont has been release from custody today. However he had to post bail of 75,000 €.
He immediately hold a speech in front of the jail, whose first words were in German. It's astonishing how quickly you can learn a language when you have to live among criminals for a few days.
His release on bail drew a large crowd as you can see in the picture below:

[Former President tack50]

Even though I don't like him I have to admit, Puigdemont does know a lot of languages (Spanish and Catalan obviously, but also French and English). He seems to be very good with languages, I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up decent German in 2 years or so.

Meanwhile, the Spanish PM... yeah, nothing. Not even Galician! (no Spanish PM has ever spoken a foreign language in fact, though Aznar did learn English after he left)

Also, a Spanish radio host, Federico Jimenez Losantos, has made some headlines because he said that "we have 200 000 German hostages in the Balearic Islands" and that "pubs can explode in Bavaria".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWZrs3_oSss (Spanish with English subtitles)

If anyone knows Spanish here's the full program (which lasts for several hours): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQw8robQ3Tg

Now, he isn't really representative of Spain, or even of the Spanish right, but this kind of rethoric is still very worrying.

[NewYorkExpress]

Four years later, Puidgemont has been arrested in Sardinia.

Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was arrested on the Italian island of Sardinia on Thursday on charges related to his activities in Catalonia's failed bid in 2017 to secede from Spain, a court official and his lawyer told CNN.

His lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, told CNN the arrest was carried out on a Spanish Supreme Court warrant and a court spokeswoman said the Spanish court is contacting the Italian courts on Friday.

....
Separatist tensions continue in Barcelona and the surrounding northeast region of Catalonia. And the issue affects national politics right now, with the minority government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez relying on a Catalan pro-independence party, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), for support on the upcoming budget and other issues. The ERC now heads Catalonia's coalition government, partnered with Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia (JxCat).

Spain's government last June pardoned nine Catalan leaders, serving prison sentences, for their roles in the failed 2017 independence drive. Sanchez at the time said the move aimed to foster reconciliation between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

But the pardons did not apply to Puigdemont, who fled in 2017 along with some top aides, after Madrid took temporary direct control of the region.

[Velasco]

Even though I don't like him I have to admit, Puigdemont does know a lot of languages (Spanish and Catalan obviously, but also French and English). He seems to be very good with languages, I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up decent German in 2 years or so.

Meanwhile, the Spanish PM... yeah, nothing. Not even Galician! (no Spanish PM has ever spoken a foreign language in fact, though Aznar did learn English after he left)

Pedro Sánchez must be the first Spanish PM in the present democratic period who is fluent in English. Sánchez co-religionist Juan Negrin,  who led the Spanish Republican government during the Civil War, is probably the most multilingual of all. Negrin was able to speak German (he studied medicine at Kiel and Leipzig universities), French, English,  Italian and Russian... and apparently he was studying Chinese during his final years in exile (Negrin died in Paris). I am certain that Sánchez is more skilled than Puigdemont in the Shakespeare's tongue, but the Catalan politician also speaks some French...

[Former President tack50]

Even though I don't like him I have to admit, Puigdemont does know a lot of languages (Spanish and Catalan obviously, but also French and English). He seems to be very good with languages, I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up decent German in 2 years or so.

Meanwhile, the Spanish PM... yeah, nothing. Not even Galician! (no Spanish PM has ever spoken a foreign language in fact, though Aznar did learn English after he left)

Pedro Sánchez must be the first Spanish PM in the present democratic period who is fluent in English. Sánchez co-religionist Juan Negrin,  who led the Spanish Republican government during the Civil War, is probably the most multilingual of all. Negrin was able to speak German (he studied medicine at Kiel and Leipzig universities), French, English,  Italian and Russian... and apparently he was studying Chinese during his final years in exile (Negrin died in Paris). I am certain that Sánchez is more skilled than Puigdemont in the Shakespeare's tongue, but the Catalan politician also speaks some French...

Yes, that is all correct. Negrin's language skills are very impressive indeed being fluent in so many languages; especially by 1930s standards.

I have heard some rumours that short lived PM Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was fluent in French but I have never been able to confirm them. Other than him I believe Sanchez is the only PM to speak a foreign language fluently, though I do expect Spanish PMs to be fluent in English as the norm from now on

[Velasco]

Even though I don't like him I have to admit, Puigdemont does know a lot of languages (Spanish and Catalan obviously, but also French and English). He seems to be very good with languages, I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up decent German in 2 years or so.

Meanwhile, the Spanish PM... yeah, nothing. Not even Galician! (no Spanish PM has ever spoken a foreign language in fact, though Aznar did learn English after he left)

Pedro Sánchez must be the first Spanish PM in the present democratic period who is fluent in English. Sánchez co-religionist Juan Negrin,  who led the Spanish Republican government during the Civil War, is probably the most multilingual of all. Negrin was able to speak German (he studied medicine at Kiel and Leipzig universities), French, English,  Italian and Russian... and apparently he was studying Chinese during his final years in exile (Negrin died in Paris). I am certain that Sánchez is more skilled than Puigdemont in the Shakespeare's tongue, but the Catalan politician also speaks some French...

Yes, that is all correct. Negrin's language skills are very impressive indeed being fluent in so many languages; especially by 1930s standards.

I have heard some rumours that short lived PM Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was fluent in French but I have never been able to confirm them. Other than him I believe Sanchez is the only PM to speak a foreign language fluently, though I do expect Spanish PMs to be fluent in English as the norm from now on

I was wrong overlooking the short-lived PM who succeeded Adoldo Suárez and was replaced by Felipe González. I believe the latter speaks some French without being fluent (Puigdemont style)

According to Wikipedia,  Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo was fluent in French, English, German Italian and Portuguese!

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Calvo-Sotelo