Catalonia’s regional police have admitted to Spanish law enforcement that they made errors in their operation to arrest Carles Puigdemont, the separatist leader, upon his return to Barcelona earlier this month.
Their blunders contributed to Puigdemont's evasion. The admission was revealed in a report prepared for a Supreme Court judge by the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s police force. The report was ordered following Mr Puigdemont’s audacious escape on 8 August.
The Mossos and the Supreme Court refused to comment when approached by AFP. Strikingly, the document reveals that the Mossos had not anticipated that Puigdemont, who had been on the run since 2017, would flee again following his return to Spain.
“We did not foresee that Mr Puigdemont would come back to Spain and immediately flee”, the report said, according to news website El Confidencial.
Puigdemont has spearheaded the Catalan separatist effort. He found refuge in Belgium in 2017 following Catalonia’s secession attempt. He has since been under an arrest warrant.
After a brief appearance in Barcelona, Puigdemont is believed to have staged a swift escape in the boot of a car. Credit: Belga
Puigdemont stood as the leader of his party, Junts per Catalunya, in the Catalan regional elections on May 12. He promised to return to partake in the investiture vote for the new regional president, which took place on August 8.
However, he limited himself to a brief speech near the regional Parliament, in front of thousands of supporters and TV cameras, before discreetly slipping away undetected by the intended police arrest.
According to the media, the report indicates that the Mossos lost sight of Mr Puigdemont when the drone tracking him focused on the crowd advancing towards Parliament. This allowed him to get into a car and slip away.
Following the debacle, three Catalan police officers accused of aiding the separatist leader’s escape were taken into custody.
