Catalan separatist arrested after returning to Spain

Catalan separatist Clara Ponsatí, who was elected to the European Parliament, returned to her home country for the first time five and a half years after fleeing Spain – and was promptly arrested. The 66-year-old was taken into custody by plainclothes officers in Barcelona on Tuesday, state television channel RTVE and other media reported, citing authorities. The Supreme Court had issued an arrest warrant against Ponsatí for disobedience in connection with the illegal independence referendum of October 1, 2017.

After the referendum and a subsequent decision to secede from Spain, Catalonia was placed under guardianship by the then conservative central government. The regional president at the time, Carles Puigdemont, escaped the reach of the Spanish judiciary by going abroad with Ponsatí and other separatist politicians. Those who did not escape were sentenced to 13 years in prison, but have since been pardoned.

Ponsatí drove into the French border by car and initially held a press conference in Barcelona, ​​RTVE reports. She then took to the streets to cheers from pro-independence supporters, where she was arrested in the evening. Officials ignored their reference to their immunity as MEPs. Puigdemont described the arrest on Twitter as illegal. “But in Spain the rule of law plays a secondary role,” he wrote.

The charges against Ms Ponsatí, who lives in Scotland and Belgium, are not punishable by imprisonment, but only by a fine and disqualification from public office for a period of six months to two years. However, she is probably on the run from justice. Some Spanish media suspect that Ponsatí has ​​returned to Spain because of the May 28 regional and local elections. (sda/dpa)