Exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has asked for amnesty and an end to all legal proceedings against Catalan separatists in exchange for his support to back a new left-wing coalition government led by Pedro Sánchez.
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00:00 Carles Puigdemont is demanding an amnesty. The former president of Catalonia in Spain
00:06 wants an end to all legal proceedings against Catalan separatists as a precondition to supporting
00:11 current Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez`s bid to form a government.
00:16 Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium in 2017 after an illegal referendum, has also asked for
00:21 the recognition and respect for the legitimacy of the independence movement.
00:26 "October 1 was not a crime, as neither was the declaration of independence, nor the
00:33 massive protests against repression and the sanctioning of the Supreme Court. The abandonment
00:40 of repression and democratic independence is an ethical requirement and it must be a
00:46 permanent abandonment."
00:47 The wish list made by the former Catalan leader comes after Spain`s snap elections in July
00:52 ended in a political stalemate. Despite winning the elections, the conservative candidate
00:58 Alberto Núñez-Ferro does not have the numbers to form a majority government, which has opened
01:03 the doors for another left-wing coalition. Pedro Sánchez needs Puigdemont`s help in
01:08 order to form a government.
01:11 "These are preconditions that must be met before the term of the new elections is exhausted.
01:20 And if they are met, they naturally compromise us and force us to work for a historical commitment
01:27 that resolves the conflict in the next legislature. They only depend on political will."
01:34 A first symbolic move came this Monday when Spain`s deputy prime minister Yolanda Díez
01:39 met with Puigdemont in Brussels, despite not having the approval of Pedro Sánchez.
01:44 It`s the first time that a representative of the Spanish government meets with the former
01:50 Catalan leader in six years.
01:53 "It`s the first time that a representative of the Spanish government meets with the former
01:57 Catalan leader in six years. It`s the first time that a representative of the Spanish government