Tyska regeringen: Kommer inte stoppa utlämningen

Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (Catalan: [ˈkarɫəs ˌpudʒðəˈmon i kazəməˈʒo] ( listen); born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan nationalist politician and journalist. A former mayor of the city of Girona in north-eastern Spain, Puigdemont served as President of Catalonia from January 2016 to October 2017 when the office was abolished by Spain following the Catalan declaration of independence. He is chair of the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) and leader of the Junts per Catalunya (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance. Born in 1962 in Amer in the Province of Girona, Puigdemont came from a family of bakers. After education in Amer and Girona, he became a journalist in 1982, writing for various local publications and becoming editor-in-chief of El Punt. He was director of the Catalan News Agency from 1999 to 2002 and director of Girona's Casa de Cultura from 2002 to 2004. Puigdemont's family were supporters of Catalan independence and Puigdemont became involved in politics as a teenager, joining the nationalist Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), the predecessor to the PDeCAT, in 1980. He gave up journalism to pursue a career in politics in 2006 when he was elected as a member of the Parliament of Catalonia for the Province of Girona. He was elected to the Municipality Council of Girona in 2007 and in 2011 he became Mayor of Girona. On 10 January 2016, following an agreement between the Junts pel Sí (JxSí), an electoral alliance led by the CDC, and the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), the Parliament of Catalonia elected Puigdemont as the 130th President of Catalonia. On 1 October 2017 an independence referendum was held in Catalonia despite the Constitutional Court ruling that it breached the Spanish constitution. 92% supported independence though turnout was only 43% due to a boycott by unionists. The Catalan Parliament declared independence on 27 October 2017 which resulted in the Spanish government imposing direct rule on Catalonia, dismissing Puigdemont and the Catalan government. The Catalan Parliament was dissolved and fresh elections called. On 30 October 2017 charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds were brought against Puigdemont and other members of the Catalan government. Puigdemont, along with others, fled to Belgium and European Arrest Warrants were issued against them. These were later withdrawn but the national arrest warrants remain valid and Puigdemont and his colleagues risk arrest if they return to Spain. At the regional elections held on 21 December 2017 Puigdemont was re-elected to Parliament and Catalan secessionists retained a slim majority in the Catalan Parliament. Puigdemont called for fresh talks with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy but Rajoy dismissed this. Puigdemont remained in Belgium to avoid arrest if he returned to Spain, with this situation being defined as exile by some, self-imposed exile by some others, and also as fugitive from justice. This situation ended on 25 March 2018 after he was detained by a highway patrol in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark.