Spain court calls on fugitive Catalan secessionist Carles Puigdemont to testify in terrorism probe

MADRID — Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday called on fugitive former Catalonia President and separatist chief Carles Puigdemont to testify as a defendant in a terrorism investigation over protests linked to the region’s failed 2017 independence referendum.

A court statement said Puigdemont, a European Parliament lawmaker, and Catalan regional lawmaker Rubén Wagensberg have been summoned to testify voluntarily by video conference from their residences outside of Spain.

The court set the hearing between June 17-21, adding that the precise date would be agreed upon later.

The Supreme Court opened an investigation into Puigdemont and Wagensberg “for crimes of terrorism” in relation to a case concerning a clandestine group called Democratic Tsunami that staged protests against the jailing of several Catalan separatist leaders involved in the illegal 2017 independence referendum.

During the demonstrations, thousands of protesters blocked access to Barcelona’s airport, clashing with police and causing the cancellation of many flights.

Puigdemont, 61, fled to Belgium after leading the 2017 breakaway bid that quickly collapsed and is still a wanted man in Spain on charges of charges of the misuse of public funds.

A contentious amnesty bill, crafted by Spain’s left-wing minority coalition government to clear him and hundreds of other supporters of Catalan independence, is slowly making its way through the national Parliament.

He has announced that he will be once again a candidate in Catalan regional elections on May 12 and may return to Spain if he has a chance of being reelected regional president.

Puigdemont has continued his political career as a self-styled political exile from Waterloo. He won a European Parliament seat in 2019 and maintained the leadership of his Junts “Together” party while cultivating an almost cult-like status as the figurehead of the movement in exile.

Wagensberg, regional politician, moved to Switzerland after he was named in the investigation earlier this year.