Puigdemont: "The Sassari court confirmed that Catalonia is right and Spain is wrong"
From Alghero the former Catalan president announces that on Monday he will leave for Belgium. In Sardinia also his successor Aragones: "The repression of the separatists must end"
"We are here to denounce that the repression of the independence movement continues and that an amnesty is needed more than ever to resolve this situation. The Catalan people have the right to decide their future and their right to self-determination passes through a referendum of independence".
These are the words spoken by the president of the Catalan Generalitat, Pere Aragones, who arrived in Alghero, "to give support" to Carles Puigdemont, his predecessor at the head of the regional government of Barcelona, arrested at Alghero airport under a strong European mandate at the request of Spain (which accuses him of responsibility in the "attempted secession" on the occasion of the 2017 referendum) and then released.
"We are happy for his freedom, which, however, is not complete", said Aragones, in a press conference organized with Mayor Conoci and Puigdemont himself. Adding: "It will in fact be complete freedom for him and the other exiles only when they come all charges will be withdrawn and a climate of tranquility will be re-established, as requested also by Parliament and the Council of Europe ”.
Aragones then thanked Sardinia and Alghero, assuring that "in times of need the Catalan government will also be there for Alghero".
For his part Puigdemont announced: “I will continue to travel, it has been difficult hours but this attempt to stop me will not win. The struggle for freedom continues and will continue ".
"We want a Europe in which freedom of expression and the right to self-determination are fundamental pillars. In less than 24 hours the court of Sassari confirmed that we are right and that Spain is wrong, which does not respect rights politicians ", continued the former Catalan president, who is also an MEP, explaining that on Monday he will leave for Belgium. The judge of the Sassari Court of Appeal did not in fact take precautionary or restrictive measures against him, leaving him "free to go", despite the fact that on 4 October, in Sassari, the hearing for his extradition to Spain is scheduled. Before leaving for Brussels, however, a stop in Oristano, where the Catalan leader was invited to participate in the assembly of local Sardinian independence administrators organized by Corona de Logu.
His lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, however, assured that "on October 4 Carles Puigdemont will appear before the appeal court because he has full confidence in Italian justice, but at the same time he will ask European justice to protect his rights, that Spain does not respect ".
The MEP did not fail, as did Aragones, to thank Alghero and Sardinia, recalling that the relationship between Catalonia and Alghero has historical roots and has lasted for seven hundred years. "Thanks to the city and its mayor, thanks to Sardinia and the presidents of the Region and the regional council", his words. "Here we feel at home, we have the same ideas in terms of democracy, freedom and the right of peoples of Europe to self-determination ".
For the mayor of Alghero Mario Conoci, "the hospitality of Sardinia could not be clouded by a judicial act". According to Conoci "independence and self-determination cannot be stopped by judicial means, Alghero and Sardinia are with Catalonia and with Carles Puigdemont".
(Unioneonline / lf)
