Xavier Manso, one of the three Mossos arrested for allegedly collaborating with the escape to Waterloo (Belgium) of Carles Puigdemont, works as an escort for the former president of the Generalitat Quim Torra. This was confirmed by Torra himself on social media this Saturday. The former president has described as “surprising, incomprehensible and unfair” the decision of the Mossos d’Esquadra to suspend Manso, one of the professional agents who “watch over” his safety, from his job and salary. After seven years, the leader of Junts returned to Catalonia in the middle of the investiture debate, gave a brief speech on Thursday before more than 2,000 faithful who were waiting for him at Arc de Triomf, in Barcelona, and disappeared again, avoiding the controls deployed by the Mossos in the framework of the so-called Operation Jaula. This Friday, the Mossos arrested near Figueres (Girona) a third agent of this police force related to Puigdemont’s escape. The two agents arrested the day before are already at large. One of them, the owner of the vehicle in which the suspect allegedly fled, former president from the area where he had intervened in front of his followers, he declared that he had lent the car to a friend. The officer has been on leave for months.
“I respectfully request that this decision be reviewed as soon as possible and that the immediate incorporation of Mr. Xavier Manso to his workplace, the team of bodyguards who watch over my safety, be agreed. After a fair and objective review of the case, it will be concluded that this disciplinary measure has been a mistake,” demanded the man who was at the head of the Generalitat during the toughest years of the process―from 2018 to 2020―, until the Supreme Court disqualified him from office, sentencing him for disobedience. In this letter ―addressed to the acting Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, through the social network X (formerly Twitter)― Torra insists that Manso has proven to be a “committed, efficient professional with impeccable conduct”, and insists that he be allowed to enjoy his holidays again.
I have demanded that the Minister of the Interior reconsider the decision to suspend sou i feina an agent of the Mossos d’Esquadra from my escort service, an excellent professional and person, who is on vacation and outside of service and is being investigated. return of President Puigdemont. pic.twitter.com/cRplQqVIFh
— Quim Torra i Pla (@QuimTorraiPla) August 10, 2024
In line with Torra, Puigdemont himself spoke out last night with a publication in which he described as “regrettable” the press conference on Friday in which the top Mossos officials gave their accounts for the escape of the Junts leader. “I cannot believe that the witch hunt that has been unleashed against some specific people, simply because they have been seen next to me at certain times, is being carried out by political circles that fill their mouths with anti-repressive struggle,” Puigdemont pointed out in a document in which he stressed: “I have never had the will to surrender voluntarily or to facilitate my arrest. I understand the reasons why the Supreme Court is obsessed with having me in its hands, but neither the operation nor the reaction of the political and police leaders of the Mossos is understandable or acceptable.”
We went to Waterloo after some extremely difficult times. To analyze the political situation and put into perspective the deep root of the operation that will make possible what is going to happen here. I ho fare. But they are thousands of kilometers in many few days and many days of a…
— krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) August 9, 2024
The escape of the former presidentwho is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Pablo Llarena, has generated a wave of discredit around the autonomous police whose leaders, however, avoided self-criticism during their first public appearance on Friday. Councillor Elena, the general director of the Catalan police, Pere Ferrer, and the chief commissioner of Mossos, Eduard Sallent, defined the work of the agents on Thursday as “exemplary”. The leaders assured that they did not know that Puigdemont had been in Barcelona since days before the investiture and that he was not arrested on Thursday to avoid security problems with the thousands of protesters who had attended the welcome event for the independence leader.
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