Puigdemont says he'll attend extradition hearing

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on Saturday vowed to keep travelling throughout Europe to campaign for the region's independence from Spain.

But he confirmed he would appear at a hearing on 4 October to decide whether he will be extradited to Spain to face sedition charges.

Puigdemont spoke to reporters in the Italian city of Alghero, on the island of Sardinia, where he was arrested by Italian police on Thursday.

A Sardinian judge released him a day later and imposed no travel restrictions pending an extradition hearing set for 4 October.

The judge imposed no travel restrictions pending the hearing, suggesting Puigdemont had a green light to leave Italy and close the case.

But on Saturday he confirmed he would attend the hearing, and assumed he would walk free.

“My plan is once the Italian justice says 'OK, your duty is finished', I will return to my home in Belgium," he said.

Puigdemont is a member of the European Union's parliament and previously served as president of Spain's restive Catalonia region.

He fled to Belgium in October 2017, fearing arrest after holding an independence referendum for Catalonia that the Spanish courts and government said was illegal.

Although Puigdemont holds a seat in the European Parliament, that legislature stripped him of parliamentary immunity.

He noted he was due in Strasbourg on 4 October for a parliament session, but said he would follow it remotely from his laptop in Sardinia if he had to.

IMAGE: AP