Carlos Puigdemont claims in a video that he “had no intention at all.” [se] “Returning the favor” during his quick visit to Barcelona

Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont, who set foot in Spain for the first time in seven years during a flash mob appearance in Barcelona despite an arrest warrant targeting him, made it clear Saturday that he had not done so. “never meant to” To surrender.

“I had no intention of surrendering myself to an incompetent judicial authority or persecuting us. (…) Not to achieve justice, but for political purposes.”He explained in a published video On social network Carles Puigdemont, three days after arriving in Barcelona.

From his home in Waterloo, near the Belgian capital, where he claims to be, he claims he wanted to. Enter the parliament to attend the session [d’investiture du chef de l’exécutif catalan] and be able to exercise [s]We have the right to speak out and [s]We have the right to vote ».

But the police system was installed. “I was not prevented from entering parliament, but in the garden” He goes on to say that his location not far from there – where he was still able to give a speech on the platform for several minutes – dissuaded him from doing so. “In this context, trying to reach Parliament meant certain arrest, and I had no possibility of addressing the hall, which was my goal.”He said again.

“It was necessary to denounce at the international level the Spanish state which does not act democratically when it allows Supreme Court judges to make fun of the laws passed by its parliament.”He comments, referring to the amnesty law negotiated with the Spanish government in exchange for support for the separatists in parliament, which does not currently apply to him.

This law has been widely criticized and is the subject of numerous legal debates and 1^any In July, the Supreme Court ruled that the order only applied to some of the crimes with which the exiled independence leader in Belgium was accused.

Carles Puigdemont, a central figure in Catalonia's independence movement, appeared on stage in the heart of Barcelona on Thursday before thousands of sympathizers, before discreetly escaping, frustrating the police force that was supposed to allow his arrest.