Puigdemont: Spain allowing swearing-in from abroad would show 'respect' for democracy

 

During his visit to Dublin this week, former president Carles Puigdemont said it would be "a sign of respect towards democracy" for the Spanish authorities to allow his investiture from abroad.

Exactly a year after the plenary session in the Catalan chamber to swear him in from exile was suspended by the courts, Puigdemont said about his reappointment as president: "I never give up hope."

Puigdemont also spoke about the upcoming trial of Catalan leaders, insisting his testimony "should be heard" but that so far he had not heard anything from the Supreme Court.

Puigdemont was in the Irish capital to give a talk at Trinity College on Tuesday night, and the next day the former president had a meeting with the mayor of Dublin, Nial Ring.

Sinn Féin calls for "significant dialogue"

Puigdemont also met representatives of the Sinn Féin political party, which called on Spanish president Pedro Sánchez to "stop using the police and legal system" to "attack" the independence movement.

A senator for the left-wing republican party, and head of the Friends of Catalonia parliamentary group, Paul Gavan, said that the claims of the pro-independence leaders are "politically legitimate," and he called for "significant dialogue" between the Spanish and Catalan governments.