BarcelonaDespite the failure of the operation, everything was ready at the Mossos d’Esquadra in case they managed to arrest the former president of the General State Carles Puigdemont on his return to Catalonia, coinciding with the discussion of the installation of Salvador Illa. The device was ready to be brought to Madrid, although there was no specific request to do so. This is evident from the report sent by the chief commissioner, Eduard Sallent, to the Supreme Court judge, Pablo Llarena, who asked the body for clarifications about the device prepared to arrest Puigdemont.
In the report, the Mossos family explained that they had planned different trips to transport the former president to the City of Justice pending the decision adopted by Judge Llarena. The transfer would be carried out with a civilian vehicle accompanied by two cars with agents from the Special Intervention Group (GEI). But the Catalan police had anticipated the decision that the judge could take and had also planned to transport him to Madrid.
Thus, the report reveals that Puigdemont would have been transported to the Spanish capital in an unmarked vehicle with agents from the General Commission for Information (CGINF) and two cars with GEI agents. In this sense, the corresponding requests to transport the Mossos militants outside Catalan territory were processed. And not only that. The Catalan police even booked hotel rooms in Madrid so that the agents responsible for bringing the former president before Spanish justice could rest easy once he was brought before the Supreme Court.
I object to entering parliament
On the other hand, the police report also reveals that the President of Parliament, Josep Rul, prevented Mossos d’Esquadra from entering the inner chamber of the Catalan Chamber the day before the inauguration debate to inspect it. This was one of the scenarios that the Catalan police put on the table after Rul had previously indicated that he would prevent Puigdemont from being arrested inside Parliament so that he could exercise his rights as an MP. “An operation could have been organised with the help and complicity of Parliament staff and with the authorisation of the President of Parliament himself, which aimed to allow access to the interior of the building without having to enter the building itself.” [Puigdemont] “It was discovered by Mossos,” the report details.
Faced with this assumption, the Mossos say that they asked to enter Parliament and search the offices to rule out that the former president was actually inside, but that “parliamentary officials” did not facilitate the implementation of these procedures and requested a written request from Mr. President himself. This request was sent to President Josep Rul and, according to the report, Parliament refused the police access due to “the lack of sufficient personnel” to accompany Mossos. Salent asserts in the document that this “reinforced the suspicions that Mr. Puigdemont could have access to Parliament before the debate”. But the suspicions, as it turned out, were unfounded. It was not until 7 am on the 8th that the Mossos family was able to “carry out a search inside Parliament and in the outer areas with the dog unit and the Metro” without results and shortly before 9 am Puigdemont appeared on Trafalgar Street. A few minutes later, the former president disappeared and returned to Waterloo without being arrested.
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