Spain lifts Puigdemont arrest warrant, clearing path for possible return after years in exile

A Spanish Supreme Court judge lifted the arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, a former Catalan leader who fled Spain in 2017 after launching an independence bid.³Backed by 3 sourcesDWFrance 24The Washington Post The decision followed a Constitutional Court ruling that Spain’s amnesty law applied to Catalan separatists, providing the legal basis for lifting the warrant.²Backed by 2 sourcesAl JazeeraThe Washington Post

The ruling opens the way for Puigdemont to return to Spain after nine years in exile, and he has been described as set to return as a free man.²Backed by 2 sourcesPoliticoEuronews Puigdemont celebrated the decision from Waterloo but did not say when he would return, so the lifting of the warrant does not itself establish that he has already come back.¹Backed by 1 sourcesPolitico