Carles Puigdemont

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Carles Puigdemont in 2016
Signature of Puigdemont

Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó  [ 'karɫəs pudʒðəˈmon i kazəmə'ʒo ] (born December 29, 1962 in Amer ) is a Spanish politician. He belongs to the Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català (PDeCAT) and was mayor of Girona from 2011 . As a member of the Catalan regional parliament , he campaigned for the independence of Catalonia from Spain . He was elected President of the Generalitat de Catalunya , the Catalan Autonomous Government, in January 2016 . After the illegal independence referendum in Catalonia in 2017 , Puigdemont and the government he led were removed from office on October 27, 2017 on the basis of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution and taken by the Spanish judiciary and others. a. charged with rebellion; he evaded Spanish justice by fleeing abroad. Puigdemont surrendered to the Belgian judicial authorities and has since stayed in Brussels, from where he acts as an active leader in the separatist efforts. Please click to listen!Play

Origin and career

Puigdemont is the son of a pastry chef family . He studied Catalan Philology at the University of Girona and began writing for the local press during his studies. He became local correspondent for the Los Sitios newspaper and later editor-in-chief of El Punt , where he began working as a proofreader in 1982. During 1993 he traveled to various countries in the European Union and wrote reports that were published in the weekly Presència .

From 1999 to 2002 he was first director of the Catalan state news agency Agència Catalana de Notícies and general director of Catalonia Today , a Catalan publication in English that was created on his initiative. He is the author of the book Cata… què? Catalunya vista per la premsa internacional (1994) ( Kata… what? Catalonia from the perspective of the international press) and maintained a column on the same topic in the Presència .

Political career

MP and local politician

Puigdemont belonged to the Joventut Nacionalista de Catalunya (JNC), the youth organization of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), and was one of the founding members of this organization in the province of Girona . As a representative of the party, he became director of the Casa de Cultura de Girona cultural center (2002-2004) and a member of the CiU party alliance in the Catalan Parliament in the sessions following the 2006 , 2010 and 2012 elections .

Puigdemont moved up to the front ranks of Catalan politics in 2006 and remained unencumbered by the scandals in the vicinity of long-time CiU leader Jordi Pujol , who had steered the fortunes of Catalonia for decades. Unlike his predecessor, his party colleague Artur Mas , a political foster son of Pujol, who gradually initiated what is known as the procès path to a Catalan independence referendum after 2010, Puigdemont belongs to the left wing of the party.

In 2007 he topped the CiU's electoral list for the Girona City Council , but lost the election and remained in the opposition. In 2011 he was elected Mayor of Girona, breaking the hegemony of the social democratic Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC, regional sister party of the PSOE ), which had ruled the city for 32 years. In July 2015, he succeeded Josep Maria Vila d'Abadal as president of the local association Associació de Municipis per la Independència (alliance for the independence of Catalonia). In the 2015 parliamentary elections in Catalonia , he was elected to the regional parliament as a member of the cross-camp separatist list Junts pel Sí .

President of the Generalitat

On January 10, 2016, with the support of the left-wing nationalist CUP , he was elected the new President of the Generalitat of Catalonia by 70 votes to 63 with two abstentions and was appointed by the Spanish King on January 11, 2016 . Puigdemont avoided swearing allegiance to the king .

Under his government, an independence referendum was held on October 1, 2017, despite a ban by the Spanish Constitutional Court . The Spanish authorities tried unsuccessfully to prevent the implementation with police measures. On October 10, 2017, Puigdemont declared before the Catalan regional parliament that the referendum, in which, according to the regional government, the independence supporters had prevailed (with a voter turnout of just over 40%), gave a mandate to declare Catalonia independent; However, he wanted to postpone this for a few weeks in order to negotiate with the Spanish government. A few hours after this announcement, Puigdemont signed a declaration of independence with the separatist-oriented members of the Catalan parliament, which was subsequently suspended.

The following two weeks were marked by tensions within the Catalan government and in the camp of independence advocates, whose more radical representatives demanded the immediate implementation of independence and sometimes reviled Puigdemont as procrastinator, while others initially wanted to avoid further unilateral steps. But negotiations were consistently refused by the Spanish government. Rather, the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on October 21, 2017 the disempowerment of the regional government and new elections; this should be decided by the Spanish Senate on October 27th. On October 26th, Puigdemont decided to forego the repeatedly contemplated calling new elections for Catalonia and instead put the declaration of independence to a vote in parliament. It had previously been signaled that if new elections were called, the Spanish government would be able to dispense with coercive measures. However, Puigdemont said there were no guarantees. On October 27, the regional parliament proclaimed the previously suspended independence. A few hours later, the Spanish Senate approved the disempowerment of the Catalan government. On the same evening, the Spanish government suspended Puigdemont and his government and called new elections for the regional parliament for December 2017.

Indictment and first European arrest warrant

On October 30, 2017, the Spanish Public Prosecutor's Office brought charges against Puigdemont and other members of the deposed Catalan regional government for insurrection (rebelión) and misappropriation (malversación) of public funds for the independence referendum. The competent Spanish court ordered on October 31 that Puigdemont and the other 13 defendants should appear in court on November 2 and 3 to comment on the allegations and that by then they should be charged 6.2 million euros estimated costs of the referendum as a deposit. If this sum is not paid by then, the assets of Puigdemont and the co-defendants could be confiscated.

While some members of the ousted government followed the summons and were arrested, including Vice President Oriol Junqueras , Puigdemont, who had left for Brussels with seven ex-ministers on October 30, 2017 pending charges , did not appear in court in Spain as ordered , but initially stayed in Belgium. They held a press conference on October 31, after which three ex-ministers returned to Spain. On November 2, 2017, a European arrest warrant was issued against Puigdemont and four ex-ministers; they surrendered to the Belgian authorities. On December 5th, around two weeks before the new election of the Catalan parliament, the Spanish Supreme Court withdrew the European arrest warrant.

After the new elections in Catalonia in 2017

From Belgium, Puigdemont took part in the parliamentary elections in Catalonia on December 21, 2017 as a candidate for the Junts per Catalunya alliance and was re-elected to the regional parliament; With almost 50% of the vote, the separatist parties (Junts per Catalunya, ERC and CUP) again won a narrow majority of the seats.

In his New Years address, Carles Puigdemont spoke out in favor of negotiations with the Spanish government on the independence of Catalonia; As a consequence of the elections, he also called for his reinstatement as Catalan Prime Minister, although he would have to expect arrest if he returned to Spain because of the ongoing Spanish arrest warrant. Meanwhile, Rajoy announced that if Puigdemont was re-elected as prime minister by the regional parliament, the autonomy of Catalonia could not be restored without his previous return, as Catalonia could not be ruled remotely. The parliamentary lawyers called on by the parliamentary presidium also confirmed in an expert opinion that an appointment as prime minister is only possible with a personal presence in parliament and not by video or delegation. Despite this, Puigdemont was nominated by Junts per Catalunya and ERC on January 22, 2018 as the only candidate for the regional presidency. Puigdemont then agreed to form a government. The Spanish government filed a lawsuit against Puigdemont's nomination in the Spanish Constitutional Court on January 26; This decided on January 27th in an injunction that the candidate to be nominated had to be personally present at the time of his election. On March 1st, Puigdemont renounced his candidacy for the time being.

At the beginning of May 2018, an attempt to elect him as regional president due to a change in the law introduced by the Catalan regional parliament failed due to a decision by the Spanish constitutional court. Puigdemont then proposed the hardliner separatist politician Quim Torra as a candidate; he was elected the new President of the Generalitat on May 14th with a narrow majority. In his inaugural address to the Catalan parliament, Torra described himself as a transition candidate; Puigedemont is still the legitimate president, whose office in the government palace he will not move into.

Another arrest warrant and extradition proceedings in Germany

Puigdemont in April 2018 in Berlin

On March 23, 2018, the court case against Puigdemont and other separatists was opened and a new European arrest warrant was issued for his extradition to Spain. On March 25th, he was arrested in Germany while traveling from Finland to Belgium.

The Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court issued an order on April 5, 2018 against Carles Puigdemont an extradition warrant for embezzlement and suspended the execution. Carles Puigdemont was released the following day, but was not allowed to leave Germany without the approval of the public prosecutor. The decision of the Higher Regional Court on the admissibility of extradition to Spain only applied to allegations of embezzlement, not to rebellion. Spain must guarantee that only this allegation will be negotiated. The court did not see any risk of escape and Puigdemont remained at large. On July 12, 2018, the Schleswig Higher Regional Court finally approved the extradition. However, on July 19, the responsible Spanish investigative judge, Pablo Llarena, refused extradition solely on charges of misappropriating public funds and withdrew the European arrest warrant against Puigdemont. So he can move relatively freely outside of Spain; in Spain itself, however, the national arrest warrant remains. However, his international freedom of movement is still restricted, for example the Canadian immigration service Puigdemont refused a visitor visa in May 2019.

Political activities since 2018

At the end of July 2018, Puigdemont was finally able to return to Belgium, from where he set up a so-called “ Council for the Republic ” in October 2018 , which is supposed to work for the independence of Catalonia.

Puigdemont ran with the Junts per Catalunya (Junts per Europa) party for the European elections in May 2019 in order to again exercise a political office ( including parliamentary immunity ). In the elections, JxC obtained a total of 4.6% of the votes in Spain and thus two parliamentary mandates - however, under Spanish law, the appointment to the European Parliament requires a personal presence in Madrid and an oath on the Spanish constitution; In order to be able to take up his mandate, Puigdemont (and Toni Comin, who had also fled in second place on the list) would have had to go to Madrid , where he was threatened with arrest. Puigdemont, Comin and Junqueras (who was elected to the European Parliament for ERC but is in custody) suspended their mandate without appointing a representative and sued the Spanish Electoral Commission, which had failed to confirm their appointment as MPs.

In October 2019, the defendants in custody in Spain were sentenced to long prison terms for “riot” (but no conviction for the more serious offense of “rebellion”). With the judgment, the Spanish judiciary reactivated the European arrest warrant against Puigdemont. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on December 19, 2019 that an oath in Madrid was not necessary to exercise a European mandate; the decisive factor was the election of a member of the European Parliament. The execution of the Spanish arrest warrant was also suspended by a Belgian court in early January 2020; This was justified with the parliamentary immunity that Puigdemont has had since his election as a member of the European Parliament; the extradition proceedings could only be continued with a repeal by parliament.

Puigdemont rejects any political rapprochement with the Spanish government, in particular the dialogue initiated by the ERC between the Generalitat and Pedro Sánchez. At a mass rally in Perpignan , France , at the end of February 2020, he spoke to up to 150,000 supporters of the need for a “final fight” (literally: “lluita definitiva”) for independence.

Personal

In addition to Catalan and Spanish , Puigdemont also speaks fluent French , English and Romanian . He has been married to the Romanian English specialist Marcela Topor since 2000 ; the couple's two daughters grow up speaking in three languages ​​(Catalan, Spanish, Romanian).

Web links

Commons : Carles Puigdemont  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CatalunyaDiari.cat: La condició que posa Puigdemont per tornar a Catalunya. Retrieved December 11, 2018 (Catalan).
  2. ↑ a b Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (Catalan).
  3. ↑ Puigdemont, de la Pastisseria dels pares a la Plaça Sant Jaume. In: Ara , January 9, 2016 (Catalan).
  4. ↑ Catalunyadiari.com: Carles Puigdemont | Catalunya Diari. Retrieved December 10, 2018 (Catalan).
  5. ↑ Carles Puigdemont Miente en su currículum: ni ni filólogo periodista. In: Vozpopuli , January 15, 2016 (Spanish).
  6. ↑ Ralf Streck: Independence or prison. In: Neues Deutschland , October 21, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  7. ^ Eleccions municipals: Girona. In: Ara , May 22, 2011 (Catalan).
  8. ^ Catalonia: Carles Puigdemont is the new head of government. In: Zeit Online , January 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Real Decreto 13/2016, de 11 de enero, por el que se nombra Presidente de la Generalitat de Cataluña a don Carles Puigedmont i Casamajó. In: Boletín Oficial del Estado. January 11, 2016 (Spanish).
  10. ↑ Catalonia leader sworn in without declaring loyalty to King. In: Daily Telegraph online , January 13, 2016
  11. ↑ a b Thomas Urban : Carles Puigdemont. The independence fighter. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung (online). June 12, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
  12. ^ Official declaration of the Generalitat on the election result: El "sí" s'imposa amb un 90% of the votes from the 2.262.424 catalans que han pogut votar , 2; October 2017 (Catalan)
  13. ↑ Catalonia Conflict: What Now? In: tagesschau.de , October 11, 2017, accessed on October 11, 2017.
  14. ↑ Hans-Christian Rößler: Carles Puigdemont: Traitors or Martyrs. In: FAZ , October 26, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  15. ↑ Disempowerment of the regional government: Rajoy announces new elections for Catalonia In: tagesschau.de , October 21, 2017, accessed on October 21, 2017.
  16. ↑ Puigdemont is not calling for new elections. In: Die Zeit , October 27, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  17. ↑ Catalan minister resigns in protest. In: Die Zeit , October 27, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  18. ↑ Regional parliament votes for declaration of independence. In: Die Zeit , October 27, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  19. ^ Senate approves forced administration of Catalonia. In: Die Zeit , October 27, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  20. ↑ Rajoy deposed Catalan government. In: Die Zeit , October 27, 2017, accessed on October 29, 2017.
  21. ↑ Catalan leaders facing rebellion charges 'flee to Belgium'. In: The Guardian , October 30, 2017 (English).
  22. ↑ Puigdemont does not want asylum, but wants a hearing in Brussels. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung online , October 31, 2017
  23. ↑ Catalan crisis: Ousted Catalan premier summoned to appear in Spanish court. In: El País online. November 1, 2017, accessed November 5, 2017 .
  24. ↑ RTVE es / AGENCIAS: Carles Puigdemont está en Bruselas. October 31, 2017, accessed June 21, 2020 (Spanish).
  25. ↑ Catalonia: Attorney confirms Puigdemont arrest warrant . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 3, 2017, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed November 3, 2017]).
  26. ↑ Spain withdraws the European arrest warrant against Puigdemont. In: SZ.de . December 5, 2017, accessed March 26, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Barbara Galaktionow: Proponents of independence defend the absolute majority. Süddeutsche Zeitung of December 22, 2017
  28. ↑ Puigdemont calls on Madrid to negotiate. Deutschlandradio from December 31, 2017
  29. ↑ La Vanguardia: Rajoy avisa de que el 155 seguirá en vigor si Puigdemont lleva a cabo la investidura a distancia , January 15, 2017, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  30. ↑ La Vanguardia: Los letrados del Parlament rechazan la investidura a distancia de Puigdemont , January 15, 2017, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  31. ↑ Puigdemont nominated again as regional president. Spiegel online from January 22, 2018
  32. ↑ Puigdemont wants to "soon" form a new government. Time online from January 22, 2018
  33. ↑ Spain's government is suing against Puigdemont's nomination. Spiegel online from January 26, 2018
  34. ↑ La Vanguardia: Puigdemont renuncia a presidir la Generalitat y señala la candidatura de Jordi Sànchez , March 1, 2018, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  35. ↑ Catalonia: Puigdemont renounces the presidency In: faz.net , March 1, 2018
  36. ↑ Constitutional Court stops Puigdemont's election. Time online from May 9, 2018
  37. ↑ Claus Hecking and Steffen Lüdke: President by Puigdemonts grace. Spiegel online from May 11, 2018
  38. ↑ El Pais: Quim Torra reitera que su prioridad es construir la “república catalana” y el proceso constituyente , May 14, 2018, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
  39. ↑ Mounia Meiborg: Arrest: Is Germany delivering Puigdemont now? In: The time . March 25, 2018, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  40. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Thousands protest against the arrest of Puigdemont . March 25, 2018.
  41. ↑ Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court issues extradition arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont for embezzlement and suspends execution of the extradition arrest warrant , schleswig-holstein.de, press office of the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court, April 5, 2018
  42. ^ After arrest in SH: Carles Puigdemont is free again. In: shz.de . April 6, 2018, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  43. ↑ Claus Hecking: The court declares Puigdemont's extradition admissible. In: Spiegel Online. July 12, 2018, accessed July 12, 2018 .
  44. ↑ Puigdemont can be delivered at: 20 minutes, accessed July 12, 2018
  45. ↑ Carles Puigdemont: Catalonia's ex-head of government is to be extradited . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on July 12, 2018]).
  46. ↑ Spain withdraws the international arrest warrant against Puigdemont. Spiegel online from July 19, 2018
  47. ↑ tagesschau.de
  48. ^ Catalan separatist denied entry to Canada. In: Radio Canada Online. May 4, 2019, accessed on September 13, 2019 .
  49. ↑ Puigdemont returned to Belgium deutschlandfunk.de, July 28, 2018
  50. ↑ When taking office, he faces arrest. Frankfurter Allgemeine , May 27, 2019, accessed on June 22, 2019 .
  51. ↑ El Nacional: Los escaños de Puigdemont, Comín y Junqueras quedarán vacíos a la espera de los tribunales europeos , July 13, 2019 (Spanish)
  52. ↑ Thomas Gutschker, Hans-Christian Rößler: Catalans take on EU mandate: Two places in the last row . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed February 22, 2020]).
  53. ↑ Carles Puigdemont is not extradited to Spain. Die Zeit , January 2, 2020, accessed on January 3, 2020 .
  54. ↑ La Vanguardia: Puigdemont obvia el diálogo en un baño de masas en Perpiñán , February 29, 2020, accessed on March 2, 2020 (Spanish)
  55. ^ ORF: Puigdemont gathers tens of thousands of followers. February 29, 2020, accessed March 13, 2020 .
  56. ↑ Puigdemont wants to fight from exile. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Puigdemont, Carles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Puigdemont i Casamajó, Carles (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Amer