MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) Catalonia's sacked rebel president Carles Puigdemont arrived in Edinburgh late on Friday where he will make a case for the regions independence from Spain.
"Ive just arrived in Scotland at the invitation of diplomatic Forum Beyond Borders to explain the conflict in Catalonia. Lets resume international action to fight for the freedom of the Catalan Republic," he tweeted.
This is the first trip abroad for the top Catalan separatist who fled to Belgium last year to avoid prison on rebellion charges after Madrid suspended Catalan autonomy in the wake of a banned independence vote in October. Several other separatists were jailed.
Puigdemont was briefly arrested in Germany last March under an international arrest warrant while returning to Belgium from Finland, but a German court rejected Spains request for his extradition. The warrant was eventually dropped, allowing him to travel freely.
In Scotland, the vocal pro-independence Catalan will speak over the weekend at the Beyond Borders festival in Edinburgh, which touts itself as a platform for promoting greater understanding among leaders.
The Scottish government sought to break away from London four years ago but the bid was rejected by 55 percent of votes to 45 percent. Calls for independence resumed after the UKs vote in 2016 to split from the European Union.
