MADRID, April 8 (Reuters) – Spain’s Supreme Court has summoned Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to testify remotely in June about his links to a radical separatist movement accused of breaking terrorism law during protests which followed the failure of the 2017 referendum on the independence of Catalonia.
The investigating judge set provisional dates for the remote hearing between June 17 and 21 and ordered an investigation to determine the location of Carles Puigdemont as well as his address, the court said in a statement on Monday. Carles Puigdemont lives in exile in Belgium.
The case concerns protests by the radical Catalan separatist movement “Tsunami democràtic” in 2019, causing the cancellation of flights at Barcelona airport and blocking a highway to France.
The group says its actions were peaceful and that the use of terrorism law is inappropriate. Carles Puigdemont denies having links to the group and calls the case an example of political persecution.
The 61-year-old former journalist fled Spain in 2017 for Belgium to escape accusations of disobedience and embezzlement. He is a member of the European Parliament. (Reporting David Latona; French version Nathan Vifflin, editing by Kate Entringer)
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