Court aims to charge Puigdemont’s traveling companions as accessories

A Spanish court is looking into charging the four people who were with Carles Puigdemont when he was detained in Germany on Sunday with aiding and abetting the deposed Catalan president. Among Puigdemont’s four traveling companions were two Catalan police officers, leading the Mossos d’Esquadra to open an investigation to uncover the extent of the officers’ duties. Meanwhile, the state attorney general is gathering information to see if there is enough evidence to charge the four men as accessories.

A number of media outlets have reported that one of the Catalan police officers had traveled to Finland with Puigdemont, along with his friend Josep Maria Matamala. Another officer left Belgium for Sweden on Friday in the car Puigdemont was using in Waterloo, and was most likely accompanied by another of the president’s friends, the historian Josep Lluís Alay. All five men met in Sweden and began the drive back to Belgium. However, German police intercepted the car on Sunday morning and Puigdemont was taken into custody.

Spain’s interior ministry began an investigation in February to find out whether the police officers protecting Puigdemont in Belgium were members of the Mossos d’Esquadra police force. One man was found to be a Catalan police officer and disciplinary proceedings were brought against him. The officer is currently on sick leave. The authorities now want to know if the other dozen or more officers protecting the deposed president voluntarily went to Belgium to offer their services on their own time.