Catalonia's Puigdemont calls prison sentences for separatist leaders "repression and revenge"

Record ID: 1436616

  • Title: Catalonia's Puigdemont calls prison sentences for separatist leaders "repression and revenge"
  • Date: 14th October 2019
  • Summary: IMAGES ON TV SCREEN SHOWING PICTURES OF CONVICTED CATALANS, TEXT READING (Catalan): "JORDI CUIXART, PRESIDENT OF OMNIUM CULTURAL, 9 YEARS OF PRISON, #SHAMESPAIN, #SHAMEEUROPE, JORDI TURELL, COUNSELLOR OF THE PRESIDENCY AND SPOKESPERSON OF THE GOVERNMENT, 12 YEARS OF PRISON"
  • Embargoed: 28th October 2019 17:01
  • Keywords: Catalan Carles Puigdemont Brussels Spain Catalonia Supreme Court jail sentences
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA002B12MAFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The former head of Catalonia's regional government Carles Puigdemont said on Monday (October 14) that the prison sentences for the separatist leaders on trial for a failed 2017 independence bid showed a "strategy of repression and revenge."
    Puigdemont was speaking after Spain's Supreme Court jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders for between nine and 13 years for their role in a failed independence bid, a decision that triggered protests in the region and left the future course of the dispute uncertain.
    The court also issued a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, who was regional leader during its independence bid. He now lives in self-imposed exile in Belgium. In July 2018, the Spanish court dropped a warrant after Germany refused to extradite him.
    The ex-leader of the region did not take questions after delivering his statements on the prison sentences and did not comment on the extradition request.
    A handful of protesters were waiving signs reading "Spanish justice is the shame of Europe" and "Spain is a fascist state", while a man was holding a Spanish flag.
    In another area of Brussels, another small group of protesters wrapped in Catalan flags gathered outside the Spanish embassy, singing Catalan songs.
    (Production: Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf, Bart Biesemans, Hortense de Roffignac)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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