09.08.2024 – 21:10
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Update: 09.08.2024 – 21:25
President Carles Puigdemont broke his silence in a message on social media. He explained that he had returned to Waterloo and strongly criticized the police operation.
“The unspeakable Home Office of our government,” he says, “performed one of the most deplorable press conferences I can remember.” He adds: “I cannot believe the witch hunt that has been launched against certain specific individuals, simply because they were seen next to me at certain times.”
He also asserts: “The wave of repression launched by Chancellor Elena and the Chief Commissioner of the Mossos deserves a Marlaska or a Zoido.” He stresses that the Mossos should not be asked to be loyal to political ideas and narratives: “That’s what the Spanish do with the police and the Civil Guard.” He also explains: “Some things don’t surprise me, like the fact that I was wearing a straw hat (I’ve never worn one, and I’ve never been in the trunk of a car).”
And as a final consideration he says: “If Chancellor Elena and the Interior Ministry had followed the law and given me my own escort, they would have always known my route through Barcelona and Catalonia. And they would not have needed the delirious operation that took place yesterday, which will forever remain part of their public biography. And not as a merit, precisely.”
The full text is as follows:
Today I am in Waterloo after a few very difficult days. We need to analyse the political situation and establish the deep reason behind the process that made what happened yesterday possible. And I will do that. But there are thousands of kilometres in very few days and many days of stress that are difficult to explain, and I am sure that it will be understood that I still need a few hours to rest and breathe some air.
Unfortunately, today our government’s Interior Ministry, which is not to be confused, held one of the most deplorable press conferences I can remember, and I feel compelled to make a comment. I cannot believe that the witch hunts that were launched against specific people, simply because they were seen next to me at certain times, are organized from political spheres that fill their mouths with the struggle against oppression. The wave of oppression unleashed by Chancellor Elena and the Chief Commissioner of Mossos is worthy of Marlaska or Zuido. I must say that some things do not surprise me, like the fact that I was wearing a straw hat (I have never worn one, I have never been in the trunk of a car, I have never lived in Hamburg: things they invent in Germany). Police reports always have a “presumption of correctness”).
I feel very sorry for the people who are subjected to the wrath of politicians and police officials who know that they were not up to the task at all. They got it because the councilman and the chief commissioner laughed when they saw that the frightening, incomprehensible and sometimes delusional police apparatus was not understood by anyone and only served to annoy citizens. And to spend public money in vain, which would be more useful in the fight against crime and organized crime than to prosecute politicians who have not had a single conviction and to punish the officers of the Mossos d’Esquadra for their civic duty, not because they committed any crime.
I have said before that I never had the will to surrender myself voluntarily or facilitate my arrest because I find it unacceptable that I should be persecuted for political reasons, and above all the amnesty law. I understand the reasons why the Supreme Court is obsessed with putting me in its hands, but neither the process nor the reaction of the political and police leadership in Mossos is understandable or acceptable.
The Mossos should not be asked to be loyal to political ideas and narratives. That is what the Spanish do with their police and their Civil Guard. Here we have always defended our National Police model, which many officers who have a career in public service believe in. As President, I am very proud of the role played by the Mossos d’Esquadra in managing the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, and of the way the commands knew how to deal with a crisis in which they also had to compete with other commands. Police forces. And everyone knows that Major Trapero was not exactly on the political side of the government. But then he acted with great responsibility and a great sense of institution, which is what Councilor Forn and I could ask of him as political leaders. And when it was decided to carry out Operation Gabia, it was because it was necessary to arrest some terrorists who had just committed a massacre on La Rambla. Some terrorists. People who had just been killed at random. Not a political leader who had an arrest warrant that the whole of Europe had rejected, and who had not killed anyone, of course. How many arrest warrants are currently issued for thieves, rapists, drug dealers and murderers? How many devices have been collected like yesterday? Don’t their faces feel ashamed?
It will be very difficult to reverse the deterioration into which those present at today’s press conference have dragged the body of the Mossos d’Esquadra. The path to its Spanishization (in the sense of the police model) began with the formation of a triumvirate and will culminate in the formation of a government made possible by the same triumvirate.
And a final look. If Chancellor Elena and the Interior Ministry had followed the law and given me my own escort, they would have always known my route through Barcelona and Catalonia. And they would not have needed yesterday’s delusional operation, which will forever remain part of their public CV. And not as a merit, exactly.
Today I am in Waterloo after a few very difficult days. We need to analyse the political situation and establish the deep reason behind the process that made what happened yesterday possible. And I will do that. But there are thousands of kilometres in a few days and many days in one day …
– krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) August 9, 2024
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”
