Puigdemont remains “firm” in prison, says his lawyer

Deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont remains "firm, with courage and determination," according to his lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, who visited his client on Tuesday in Neumünster prison, in Germany. "He sees himself as a political prisoner, and as such is perfectly ready to put up with all that entails," said Alonso-Cuevillas. The lawyer also said that the Catalan leader “will not give up” his political ideas and that he appealed for “unity” in the pro-independence camp.

Puigdemont was detained by German police on Sunday after a Spanish court issued a European warrant for his arrest. The Catalan leader was making his way by car from Finland to Belgium, where he has been living since leaving Catalonia, after a declaration of independence and the suspension of the country’s self rule. On Monday, a local court remanded him in custody while a high court decides whether to extradite him to Spain, where he is charged with rebellion and misuse of funds.

The lawyer said that Puigdemont was receiving “exquisite treatment” from the German prison service, and that he has the support of the other prisoners. “He is in perfect shape, both physically and in his mood,” said the lawyer, who also passed on his client’s gratitude for the “backing” he has received from so many people, both those visiting the prison and those writing to him.

According to Alonso-Cuevillas, Puigdemont also expressed “solidarity” with “everyone who has suffered violence on the streets of Catalonia in the past few days.” Around a hundred people were injured, and nine people arrested, in clashes with police during protests all over Catalonia on Sunday following the news of Puigdemont’s arrest.