Former Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont possible contender for Nobel Peace Prize

Record ID: 1434072

  • Title: Former Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont possible contender for Nobel Peace Prize
  • Date: 27th September 2019
  • Summary: PUIGDEMONT AND CATALAN LEADERS SINGING CATALAN ANTHEM 'ELS SEGADORS' PUIGDEMONT SINGING ANTHEM
  • Embargoed: 11th October 2019 18:45
  • Keywords: Catalonia Carles Puigdemont extradition Spain Catalonia independence vote Germany
  • Location: GIRONA, SANT JULIA DE RAMIS, CORNELLA DE TERRI AND BARCELONA, SPAIN/ BRUSSELS, BELGIUM/ NEUMUENSTER AND BERLIN, GERMANY / GRANOLLERS, SPAIN
  • City: GIRONA, SANT JULIA DE RAMIS, CORNELLA DE TERRI AND BARCELONA, SPAIN/ BRUSSELS, BELGIUM/ NEUMUENSTER AND BERLIN, GERMANY / GRANOLLERS, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA007AYGQ0CN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY
    Catalonia's former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has been tipped as a potential candidate for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
    The former Catalan regional president, living in self-imposed exile in Belgium, is wanted in Spain for his role in Catalonia's independence drive.
    A champion of self-determination for Catalan separatists, he was instrumental in organising a secessionist referendum deemed illegal by Spanish courts and led the wealthy northeastern region when it unilaterally declared independence in 2017.
    Puigdemont, 56, and five other former Catalan leaders in self-imposed exile in European countries face arrested if they return to Spain where they face charges of rebellion and a long prison sentence if found guilty.
    In July 2018, Spanish courts lifted the European arrest warrants for Puigdemont after a German court ruled that he could be extradited to Spain to face a separate charge of misuse of public funds, but not for the rebellion charge, something that Spain decided not to accept.
    From Belgium, Puigdemont ran again for office in the December 2017 Catalan regional elections and was proposed for president by a parliamentary majority, but Spanish courts banned his attempt to assume office from outside the country.
    In May Puigdemont was elected to the European Parliament as the leading candidate of Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), his political party, but could not take his seat as Spanish law requires elected candidates to pick up their accreditation in Spain where they must also swear to uphold the constitution.
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