Catalonia’s ex-leader Carles Puigdemont detained in Germany, lawyer says

Catalonia’s former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has been detained in Germany after crossing the border from Finland, his lawyer announced on Twitter.

Puigdemont is being held at a police station in Germany. He had been en route to Belgium from Finland, his lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas wrote.

German police declined to comment on the report.

Puigdemont has lived in self-imposed exile in Belgium since October.

Spanish authorities accuse Puigdemont of rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds over his role in an illegal referendum to secede from Spain and the Catalan parliament’s declaration of unilateral independence in October last year.

The independence drive plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.

Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia after its declaration of independence, stripping the autonomous region of many of its administrative powers.

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